This Wednesday, Dr. Michael Berenbaum, an American scholar, writer, and project director of Holocaust institutions across the country, will be visiting North High to speak with students. 

Dr. Berenbaum has played a prominent role in spreading awareness about the Holocaust throughout American public culture. He is the current director of the Sigi Ziering Institute, an institution dedicated to teaching the world about Jewish identity and the implications of the Holocaust. He is also a professor of Jewish studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. 

North High has been offered the opportunity to meet Dr. Berenbaum thanks to the Names Not Numbers program, a program that gives students the opportunity to speak face to face with Holocaust survivors. 

To spread knowledge about this sacred Jewish memory throughout the nation is what Dr. Berenbaum refers to as the “Americanization” of the Holocaust.

“I believe that each time students hear about the Holocaust, it allows them to gain a new perspective of what happened, and to take the time period even more seriously,” said junior Jade Nabavian, a participant in the Names Not Numbers program. 

This sentiment is exactly what Dr. Berenbaum has dedicated his work to: ensuring that the Holocaust is a memory that expands beyond ethnic boundaries and into the collective consciousness of American society.

To this effort, Dr. Berenbaum has written or edited 18 books, scores of scholarly articles, and hundreds of journalistic pieces. He has received awards from the Jewish Press Association during a two-year period, and his work in film has won Emmy Awards and Academy Awards. 

​These pursuits have allowed Dr. Berenbaum to successfully consult Holocaust museums around the world, serve as both President and CEO of different Holocaust institutions, and more. With his familiarity with modern culture, he is able to gather the attention of new generations that were not directly involved in such a significant period of the world’s time. 

Names Not Numbers also strives to bring attention to antisemitism beyond the context of the Holocaust. “We hope to tell North High how important it is to fight against antisemitism,” said junior Kayla Baron, another participant of the Names Not Numbers program. 

“I think Dr. Berenbaum’s visit will help bring up how important it is to speak up, because every word counts,” said Baron. “[He] can help us be more aware of the Holocaust and antisemitism throughout the world, allowing us to become more involved even in the slightest of ways.” 

Dr. Berenbaum will be visiting North High this Wednesday, 12/13!