Michael Berenbaum
Michael Berenbaum (born July 31, 1945 in Newark , New Jersey ) is an American scholar, professor, rabbi , writer and filmmaker who specializes in research into the memory of the Holocaust .
Life
Berenbaum is probably best for his work as assistant director of the Cabinet of the President of the Commission on the Holocaust (1979–1980), project director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) (1988–1993), and director of USHMM's Holocaust Research Institute (1993-1997) known; as such, Berenbaum played a significant role in creating the USHMM and the contents of the permanent exhibitions. From 1997 to 1999, Berenbaum served as President and CEO of Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, and then as Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute, which researches the ethical and religious implications of the Holocaust, and is part of the American Jewish University (formerly known as the University of Judaism) in Los Angeles , California .
Berenbaum graduated from Queens College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1967 and received his PhD from Florida State University in 1975 . He also attended Hebrew University , the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Boston University . Berenbaum received the Semicha from Rabbi Yaakov Rabin at the age of 23. Berenbaum has taught at Florida State University , Yale University , Georgetown University , Wesleyan University , George Washington University , University of Maryland, College Park , and American University , and is currently Professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University (Los Angeles).
He is the author and editor of eighteen books, including After Tragedy and Triumph, a study of the living conditions of American Jews in the early 1990s, and The World Must Know, Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp. Berenbaum is editor-in-chief of the New Encyclopedia Judaica , 2nd ed., Which contains 22 volumes, 6 million words, and 25,000 individual articles on Jewish knowledge. It was published in December 2006 ( ISBN 0028659287 ). It won the Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association for 2006's Excellent Reference Guide.
Berenbaum co-produced One Survivor Remembers: The Gerda Weissmann Klein Story , a film that won an Academy Award , an Emmy Award and the Cable Ace Award. He was the chief historical advisor for Last Days, which also won an Oscar in 1998. In 2001, Berenbaum was a historical advisor for the History Channel 's "The Holocaust: The Untold Story," which received the CINE Golden Eagle Award and won a silver medal at the US International Film and Video Festival. He was also the producer of a film entitled Desperate Hours , in which the unique and seldom recognized role of the Republic of Turkey in saving Jews from the "Final Solution" of National Socialist Germany is discussed and the producer of "About Face: The Story of The Jewish Refugee Soldiers of WWII ". Berenbaum was also the producer of "Swimming in Auschwitz" and was a consultant for "Defiance" and "Uprising".
Berenbaum's wife, Melissa Patack Berenbaum, is the vice president and executive director of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), California Group, and president of the MPAA's California branch . Berenbaum is the father of four children.
He is the model for the character Monty Pincus in Tova Reich's 2007 satirical novel My Holocaust .
Publications (selection)
- The Madness of Contemporary Times by Michael Berenbaum
- The Complexity of the Jewish Narrative in Our Times by Michael Berenbaum
- More articles by Michael Berenbaum on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Berenbaum, Michael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and filmmaker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 31, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Newark , New Jersey |