News
"Light of Remembrance" Awarded to Prof. Michael Berenbaum
Prof. Michael Berenbaum has been honored with the "Light of Remembrance," the highest award of the Auschwitz Memorial. The award was presented on 29 October during the session of the International Auschwitz Council by Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz Museum.
“Professor Berenbaum is a towering figure in the world of Holocaust research and education. Probably no one can count—I suspect not even Michael himself knows this—how many exhibitions, film and educational projects he has participated in, how many lectures and papers he has delivered, or how many conferences he has attended. One thing has always particularly struck me. No matter what I approached him with, he always stopped and took the time to give advice, spending as much time as was necessary. I know very well that this is not just my experience,” said Piotr Cywiński.
“I am grateful for this unique and moving honor. I wish I could say that Auschwitz is the past and only the past. However, in our world, Auschwitz appears as the embodiment of evil among sophisticated, technologically advanced societies. We must protect Auschwitz by all means, because otherwise we degrade the very nature of evil in our world,” said Prof. Berenbaum upon receiving the award.
Michael Berenbaum is the director of the Sigi Ziering Institute and a professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University, as well as a lecturer in Jewish Community Leadership. He also served as the executive editor of the second edition of Encyclopaedia Judaica.
He was the project director overseeing the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and also served as president and director of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation (now USC Shoah Foundation).
He has created museum projects and exhibitions in the United States, Mexico, North Macedonia, and Poland. He co-authored the multi-award-winning exhibition "Auschwitz. Not Long Ago, Not Far Away" in cooperation with the Auschwitz Museum and Musealia.
The Light of Remembrance is an award established and granted by the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum for an outstanding contribution to education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. It honors individuals who are engaged in maintaining and transmitting the memory of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz.
Previous recipients of this award include Professor Władysław Bartoszewski, Krystyna Oleksy, Avner Shalev, Serge Klarsfeld, Luis Ferreiro, Romani Rose, and Piotr Setkiewicz.
