Obituary

In Memoriam: Saul S. Friedman, 1937-2013

The editors and staff of Holocaust and Genocide Studies note with sadness the passing on March 31, 2013, of Professor Saul S. Friedman. He was a pillar of both the academic and Jewish communities, publishing widely on antisemitism, Jewish oppression, the Middle East, and especially on the Holocaust.

Saul Friedman was born on March 8, 1937, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Kent State University in 1959, earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Ohio State University, and became a history professor at Youngstown State University in 1969. He would serve in this capacity as both a popular and prolific scholar until his retirement in 2006.

During his professional career, Friedman received six distinguished professorship awards, the Guardian of the Menorah Award from B'nai B'rith, the Triumphant Spirit Award from the Youngstown Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Ohio Humanities Council's Richard Bjornson Lifetime Achievement Award for Service to the Humanities. As an early pioneer of Holocaust studies, he constructed and implemented one of the first Holocaust courses in the nation. In 2000 he received a generous endowment to establish a Judaic studies program at his university, where he would serve as the first Clayman Professor of Judaic and Holocaust Studies.

Displaying a passionate interest and expertise in Jewish and Holocaust studies, Saul S. Friedman was the author or editor of twelve books, many of which have become cornerstones in their respective fields. He followed his academic interests to documentary filmmaking in the late 1980s, when he produced, wrote, and narrated thirteen documentaries on Jewish and Holocaust experiences. Five of his efforts earned him regional Emmy Awards. These included a piece on French Holocaust survivor Robert Clary. During the course of his academic career, Friedman also wrote numerous articles for national publications, including Jewish Frontier and Mainstream.

Several of Friedman's books address the Holocaust: No Haven for the Oppressed (1973), Pogromchik (1976), Amcha (1979), The Oberammergau Passion Play (1984), The Terezin Diary of Gonda Redlich (1992), Holocaust Literature (1993), and A History of the Holocaust (2004). Two of his publications examine the Jewish experience in the United States: The Incident at Massena (1978), and Jews and the American Slave Trade (1998). Complementing his academic interests, three of his books focus on the Middle East: Land of Dust (1982), Without Future (1989), and A History of the Middle East (2006).

Friedman worked tirelessly as an advocate of the Jewish community, serving as a leader in the Youngstown chapter of the Zionist Organization of America and as a trustee for the Lillian Schermer Charitable Foundation. He also helped secure the dedication of a Holocaust Memorial at the Youngstown Jewish Community Center. He is survived by his wife, Nancy; their three children, Jonathan Friedman (Leslie Rylke), Molly Friedman, and Jason Friedman (Nicole Friedman); and five grandchildren.