yom hashoah »

FDR & The Holocaust

Lecture will examine the president’s
role during World War II.

Esther Allweiss Ingber | Contributing Writer

I

n 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt
was elected to his first term as U.S.
president while America was in the
throes of the Great Depression. The same
year, Adolf Hitler legitimately gained
power to become chancellor of Germany.
Hitler’s ambition to dominate the
world and kill Jews and other so-called
undesirables surfaced soon after assum-
ing office. Some Jews and scholars still
question why President Roosevelt didn’t
lead the U.S into war against Hitler at
this early stage when he might have been
easier to stop.
The reasons for Roosevelt’s inaction
are complex, according to Professor
Michael Berenbaum, Ph.D., director of
the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the
Ethical and Religious
Implications of
the Holocaust, at
American Jewish
University in Los
Angeles.
“It becomes more
understandable when
we understand that
Michael
Roosevelt’s priority
Berenbaum
was getting the U.S.
economy on track,”
said Berenbaum, who is also a rabbi,
writer and filmmaker. “If he didn’t suc-
ceed at this task, his presidency was
doomed.”
Berenbaum will re-evaluate the role
of Roosevelt, with insights into his
motivations before and during America’s
involvement into World War II, at his
upcoming lecture: “FDR was the Best:
The Best of His Generation in Dealing
with the Holocaust, the Best of His
Successors in Dealing with Genocide; but
That Is No Compliment!”
Regarding the latter, Berenbaum will
consider FDR’s role in relationship to
other contemporary world leaders and
in dialogue with the actions of American
presidents in the face of genocide.
The Detroit-based Wayne State
University (WSU) College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences will present Berenbaum
May 15 at the Holocaust Memorial
Center (HMC) in Farmington Hills.
Funding comes from the Guy Stern
Endowment in Exile and Holocaust
Studies, with additional event sponsors
Detroit Jewish News, Cohn-Haddow
Center for Judaic Studies, Hillel of Metro

VISIT JOHNNY'S FOR
ALL YOUR DELI NEEDS

Deli Nosh at Johnny Pomodoro's

Detroit, PNC Foundation and Masco
Corporation Foundation.
WSU Professor Emeritus Guy Stern,
director of the HMC’s Harry and Wanda
Zekelman Institute of the Righteous,
was among the German-born Jews who
heroically served America in a special
World War II military unit, as depicted
in the 2004 film The Ritchie Boys.
He recommended Berenbaum to
deliver the fund’s fourth annual lecture;
and Berenbaum, in turn, said he is happy
to be coming to Metro Detroit because
“I’ve known Guy Stern through his work,
his scholarship, his teaching and his
humanity.”
The men first met when Stern was
a consultant to the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum in Washington,
D.C., and Berenbaum directed the
museum’s Holocaust Research Institute.
Berenbaum also was the project direc-
tor overseeing creation of the museum
and has helped in developing Holocaust
museums and memorial centers
around the world. They include sites
in Philadelphia; Skokie, Ill.; Skopje,
Macedonia; and Belzec, Poland.
Berenbaum’s distinguished career
includes serving as president and chief
executive officer of today’s USC Shoah
Foundation-The Institute for Visual
History and Education. Steven Spielberg,
director of the acclaimed 1993 film
Schindler’s List, founded the institute in
1994 to videotape and preserve inter-
views with survivors and other witnesses
of the Holocaust. Berenbaum directed
the Shoah Foundation’s Visual History
Archive.
“FDR was such a dominant figure,”
Stern said, “that we thought this lecture
would be of general interest to the public
and those who have a special interest in
U.S. history.”

*

Dr. Michael Berenbaum will speak
at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at the
Holocaust Memorial Center, 28123
Orchard Lake Road, on the Zekelman
Family Campus in Farmington Hills.
Admission is free, but seating is lim-
ited. RSVP to: specialevents.wayne.
edu/guystern-2016 or (313) 577-
2679. The HMC phone number for
information is (248) 553-2400.

10
OFF
Any Deli or Dairy Tray

$

Min 10 people

Coupon expires 6/5/2016.
Cannot be combined with any
other coupon or offer. PLU 428

Try a deli nosh
mini corned beef
sandwich

4oz of meat

$

only

5

make it a combo with cheese
and cole slaw for only $6.50

All day everyday at Deli Nosh
at Johnny Pomodoro's

Delivery Available

Locally Owned and Operated by
Dan and Julie Sonenberg

32906 Middlebelt Road at 14 Mile Road

248-855-0007

Shop on-line at www.Johnnypomodoros.com

May 5 • 2016

43