Today marks 30 days since the passing of esteemed international Holocaust researcher and Yad Vashem's Academic Advisor Professor Yehuda Bauer, Z"L, who passed away on Friday, 18 October 2024, in Jerusalem at the age of 98.
On the occasion of his shloshim, we have put together a collection of memories that were expressed by some of his friends and colleagues here at Yad Vashem.
Dani Dayan
Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate
"Prof. Yehuda Bauer not only enriched our knowledge of the Holocaust, but also deepened our understanding of this unprecedented event in Jewish and human history. Bauer never confined himself to the ivory tower of academia; he was always an 'engaged intellectual.' He expressed his views decisively, yet always with respect for those who disagreed with him. For decades, and up until his final days, Yad Vashem and the entire world benefited from his knowledge, insights, and research through his roles at Yad Vashem's International Institute for Holocaust Research and in various international organizations. With his passing, we have lost the foremost Holocaust scholar of our time."
Dr. Robert Rozett
Senior Historian, Yad Vashem
I first met Yehuda and began studying with him in autumn 1978, eventually writing my MA and PhD under his guidance. After my PhD I worked for him as a research assistant for an article for UNESCO on Jews, Gypsies and Slavs, that compared and contrasted Nazi policies toward the three groups. After that I worked closely with Yehuda and Israel Gutman z”l as the associate editor of the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. For many years we worked together at Yad Vashem and in IHRA from 2018 until Yehuda retired from the organization. So, I have lots of memories that span 46 years. Here are a few:
During the first year or two of my studies, Yehuda used to join us for lunch on Givat Ram in the dining hall. We were three Americans, David Silberklang, Marvin Stern and I. Yehuda would ask us about things like US politics. We answered as best as we could, but we were just kids at the time. Nonetheless he was genuinely interested in what we had to say.
When former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and then Senator Joe Biden took part in a Theodor Herzl Mission to Israel, I guided Mrs. Thatcher through Yad Vashem and David Silberklang guided Biden. Near the end of the tour, Mrs. Thatcher and I met with Yehuda. Yehuda gave a short lecture about Great Britain and the Holocaust including highlighting British failures. Mrs. Thatcher began to argue with him. Yehuda remained very diplomatic, but conceded nothing to her.
A number of years ago Yehuda spoke at an event at the Foreign Ministry in which I took part. When he walked up to the podium he held a piece of paper in his hand. I was astonished, because Yehuda never needed notes. It turned out that he just wanted to quote something accurately, and the rest of the lecture proceeded as usual, without notes. When he sat down, I told him that he had jarred me when I saw him with a piece of paper. He laughed. I think he was well over 90 at the time.
During the years in IHRA when I heard him, Yehuda often sounded like a biblical prophet when he spoke, and the diplomats listening to him were riveted to his words. Among other topics Yehuda zeroed in on the problems of Holocaust distortion and current antisemitism (still strong before Oct 7, 2023), forcefully reminding the diplomats that it was their responsibility to go home and urge their governments to confront these issues squarely.
One of the most important lessons I learned from Yehuda was very early in my MA studies. He said that you can have a very good knowledge of a subject, but if you cannot clearly convey it to someone else, it is meaningless. Yehuda was a master at conveying knowledge to others, and I hope that we, his pupils (disciples) managed to learn something about that from his example.
Dr. Sharon Kangisser Cohen
Editor-in-Chief Yad Vashem Studies
Director of The Diana and Eli Zborowski Center for the Study of the Holocaust and its Aftermath, The International Institute for Holocaust Research, Yad Vashem
At Professor Bauer’s funeral, which was a simple and meaningful one, I looked around at those in attendance. It was clear from their faces and from conversations with them that we had just lost a man of great importance, with many feeling the weight of responsibility to carry on his legacy in some way. He was dearly loved and respected by his family, and he was a man who made an enormous impact on Israeli society and on world opinion at large.
Prof. Bauer was not only an excellent lecturer but also a dedicated teacher; always giving insightful, helpful comments so that our work as historians would meet the standards of our profession. As one of his students, I remember how he persuaded us to learn languages, helped us formulate research topics, and demanded a critical study and discussion of sources. On a personal level, his work on the use of survivor testimony was particularly important. Prof. Bauer (the only name I felt I could call him) also gave us a clear opinion on issues. He did not shy away from difficult discussions and arguments, and while he was consistent on many of his approaches to the study of the Shoah, he was always open to new ideas. As a member of the editorial board of Yad Vashem Studies, he was an active participant, always eager to review articles and provide insightful evaluations. I will miss his presence and his assistance.
As Prof. Bauer was laid to rest, I overheard someone say, “They don’t make this model anymore.” Indeed, he belongs to a particular generation. He was a man who mastered many languages, who lived and worked with Holocaust survivors, who was born in Europe, and who witnessed the establishment of the State of Israel and its development. Prof. Bauer was a historian but also an ambassador of Jewish memory and history. He was a humanist who urged us to take responsibility for the world in which we live. At his funeral, I felt a profound sadness that we had lost one of the most important and gifted teachers of the Holocaust, a warrior who warned the world of the dangers of Holocaust distortion and denial.
For all of us at Yad Vashem, it was a privilege to have worked with him. A man of his abilities and influence is rare, and as a fundamental part of the organization, he expressed an unequivocal voice regarding its role and function as an institution devoted to document, research, and teach the history of the Shoah and its aftermath.
May his memory inspire us to continue Holocaust research and education in a way that respects the memory of both its victims and survivors, and provides a faithful account of the tragic events of the past.
Dr. David Silberklang
Senior Historian, International Institute for Holocaust Research
"Two cows were munching grass in the meadow. One raised its head and called out, "Moo!"
The other responded, "You took the words right out of my mouth."
That was the first of many jokes that I heard from Yehuda when we started working together on the journal Holocaust and Genocide Studies some thirty-nine years ago. Yehuda was a great teacher, a divinely-inspired lecturer (although he did not believe in "the Divine"), and possessed a remarkable ability to explain complicated historical matters to a broad audience. He was a very important scholar, a polymath, and in many ways an important rabbi. I imagine that he would not have agreed to the moniker "rabbi", but if we follow the original meaning of the word – teacher – Yehuda was a very important rabbi, indeed. He was my advisor for completing my MA thesis and for my doctoral dissertation, a model lecturer, and a good friend for many years.
He could sing folk songs in many languages in his pleasant baritone. Once, on my way to Mount Scopus for a meeting with Yehuda, I was listening to the car radio to a singer with a lovely voice singing a folk song in a language that I couldn't identify. When the radio host asked, "So, Professor Bauer, when did you learn to sing in Welsh?", I almost got into an accident, I was so surprised.
In my first seminar class as an MA student, "The Anti-Nazi Front and the Holocaust," which Yehuda co-taught with Haim Avni and the late Mordechai Altshuler, Yehuda stood out in his remarkable ability to tie together the many strands of a historical subject into a synthesis that clarified a complex topic. In one class he described the division of labor among the various researchers and teachers of the Holocaust in the Institute for Contemporary Jewry. The late Avraham Margaliot focused on German Jewry and the Third Reich; the late Yisrael Gutman on Polish Jewry and Poland in general; and Yehuda on various research topics (the Allies, American Jewry, Hungary, the Armenian Genocide, and more) and on synthesis and analysis of everything.
As we all know, he had a phenomenal memory. In my first year of MA studies, I mentioned to him that my mother was from Zhetl. Some thirty years later, when he saw the photo that Yad Vashem's Publications Department suggested for the cover of the Hebrew edition of his book The Death of the Shtetl, מות העיירה – a photo of the Dunetz family in Zhetl – he said, "David will like this."
From Yehuda I learned the art of the lecture, how to structure a lesson and a course, how to analyze a document and the skill of critical reading, including of my own work, the importance of striving for objectivity in historical research, the importance of testimonies and oral history in historical research, the importance of being open to new information that might challenge earlier conclusions, and on the importance of finding a balance between sufficient distance to do research and sufficient human engagement to remain human, and much more. Among the examples I saw in Yehuda of striving for objectivity: his analysis of the Allies and the Holocaust; his analysis of the heads and members of the Judenräte, the Jewish Councils; his analysis of the activities of Yisrael Kasztner; his analysis of the "Working Group" in Slovakia; and much more.
I was privileged to continue to learn from him over many years, and to have him relate to me always with respect and friendship. I held Yehuda in very high regard, even when we disagreed on one subject or another (which happened only occasionally). As a researcher I feel somewhat orphaned, regardless of the fact that I have already reached retirement age. There is no one like Yehuda Bauer. The last of the great Holocaust scholars of the founding generation, the greatest of them all, has passed away. I will greatly miss him, as will all the world.
Yad Vashem extends its deepest condolences to Professor Bauer’s children and grandchildren. May his memory be a blessing.
Online Content Editor, Yad Vashem
