18 October 2024

In Memoriam: Professor Yehuda Bauer

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that the IHRA announces the passing of our Honorary Chairman, Professor Yehuda Bauer. One of the foremost historians of the Holocaust, Professor Bauer left an indelible mark on both the IHRA and the field of Holocaust studies. His moral guidance, insight, and friendship will be sorely missed.

Born in Prague on 6 April, 1926, Professor Bauer and his family fled to the British Mandate of Palestine via Poland and Romania following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. From a young age, Professor Bauer was dedicated to the study of history. Following his high school studies in Haifa, he received a scholarship to attend Cardiff University in Wales, after which he returned to Israel for his graduate work at the Hebrew University, writing on the British Mandate of Palestine. Professor Bauer taught at the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University, and served as a visiting professor at Brandeis University, Yale University, Richard Stockton College, and Clark University.

 

Yehuda devoted his life to teaching us the importance of protecting the facts. We will honor him by continuing to live out the lessons he taught us.

Professor Bauer’s comprehensive grasp of the history of the Holocaust, coupled with a moral clarity, made him an advocate for historically informed policymaking and genocide prevention. One of the founding members of the IHRA, he authored the Stockholm Declaration and guided the organization as it grew and developed. In his role as Advisor and later as Honorary Chairman, Professor Bauer facilitated building international consensus around the importance of Holocaust education, remembrance, and research.

Whether through his captivating speeches or his thorough scholarship, he reminded world leaders and students alike that “antisemitism is not a Jewish problem. It is a problem for all the societies in which it grows” – and he underlined the role each of us plays in countering it.

“The Holocaust is unprecedented,” he would say. “But it is not unique. If it were unique, we could forget about it, because it could happen only once. But it could happen again. We are here because we want to avoid that.”

  • Yehuda Bauer at the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust in January 2000
  • Yehuda Bauer at the IHRA Plenary in 2006
  • Yehuda Bauer addresses the UN General Assembly on 27 January 2006. Credit: Devra Berkowitz

Throughout his life, Professor Bauer was steadfast in his commitment to the truth, in all its complexity. “Yehuda Bauer devoted his life to teaching us all the importance of protecting the facts. He did not shy away from uncomfortable truths or from encouraging member countries to face up to difficult pasts. He liked to remind us all that no one came out of the Holocaust clean. But he also believed in keeping governments around the table, in dialogue and in working together – despite differences– to make the world that little bit better,” says IHRA Secretary General Dr Kathrin Meyer.

“His strong moral compass guided this organization from its inception. We will honor him by continuing to live out the many lessons he taught us. He was a giant in the field but to us he was a friend and a mentor whose loss we are grieving deeply.”

Our deepest condolences go out to Professor Bauer’s family, friends, and colleagues. His warmth, kindness, and character will be missed, and not forgotten.