Michael Marrus
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Michael Robert Marrus (February 3, 1941December 23, 2022) was a Canadian historian of
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, modern European and
Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...
and
international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict or the laws of war, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''wikt:jus in bello, jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit ...
. He is the author of eight books on the Holocaust and related subjects.


Education

He received his
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
(BA) degree at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
in 1963. He then studied at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, graduating with a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
(MA) degree in 1964 and a
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
(PhD) degree in 1968. He also received a master's degree in law from the University of Toronto in 2005. Marrus was Professor of History and Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto and served for nineteen years as Governor of the institution. He was a senior fellow of Massey College until 2017 and was the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe
Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...
of Holocaust studies.


Career


Publications

In 1981 Marrus co-authored with Robert Paxton '' Vichy France and the Jews'' which demonstrated that the anti-semitism of Vichy France was endogenous to the region rather than imposed from without and that the
Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...
, which was spared occupation for a time, could sometimes be even more brutal than states which, unlike Vichy, were actually under Nazi occupation, especially in its role in organizing the deportation of Jews to death camps. Among Marrus' best-known books, ''The Holocaust in History'' (1987) applies the tools of historiographic analysis to the vast literature on the topic, attempting to elucidate such issues as the problems of the uniqueness and universalism of the Holocaust; public opinion regarding the Jews in Nazi Europe; anti-semitism as a factor in the origins of the Holocaust; Jewish resistance; the role of the Judenräte; bystanders; and role of the churches in the Holocaust. He has also written on the history of European refugee movements in the twentieth century, and the Holocaust-era
restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...
campaign of the 1990s. Marrus' most recent work, ''Lessons of the Holocaust'', published in 2015, deals with the historical and moral controversies which infuse the interpretation of the Holocaust and its significance. In it, Marrus denies there can be any definitive set of lessons to be learned from the destruction of the European Jews and instead affirms that there are many ever-evolving questions that need to be continually studied and re-interpreted. His works have been translated into French, German, Polish, Hebrew, Portuguese, and Japanese.


Role in historical investigative commission

In October 1999 Marrus was one of three Jewish scholars appointed to the International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission to investigate the role of the
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
during the Holocaust. The commission was supposed to review and discuss the previously published
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
records pertaining to the
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
period and report on their assessment. In October 2000 the commission issued a preliminary report with 47 questions about the Vatican's response to the Holocaust. Thereupon, in 2001, the Vatican rebuffed the commission's efforts to access Vatican archives of the Pontificate of Pius XII and the wartime period, and it subsequently disbanded amid controversy. In an interview in the '' Jerusalem Post'' Marrus expressed regret that the commission had run "up against a brick wall" on the question of opening Vatican archives.


Massey College controversy

On September 26, 2017, at a lunch at Massey College, Hugh Segal, who then had the title of Master of Massey College, joined Marrus and other fellows at the table, including a black fellow. Marrus remarked, "You know this is your 'Master,' eh? Do you feel the lash?" Marrus apologized for the comment and resigned from his position as a Senior Fellow of the college on October 1, 2017, in a letter to Segal, the head of the college, stating his "deepest regrets to all whom I may have harmed." He added, "I am so sorry for what I said, in a poor effort at jocular humour... I want to assure those who heard me … that while I had no ill-intent whatsoever I can appreciate how those at the table and those who have learned about it could take offence at what I said."


Personal life

Marrus was born in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada on February 3, 1941. In 1971, Marrus married Carol "Randi" Greenstein; the couple had three children. He died on December 23, 2022, at the age of 81.


Honors and awards

Marrus' books have received many prizes and distinctions, including the 1982 National Jewish Book Award in the Holocaust category for ''Vichy France and the Jews'' and more recently, a Canadian Jewish Literary Award for ''Lessons of the Holocaust''. He has been a research fellow or has taught at St. Antony's College, Oxford, at Israel Institute for Advanced Studies at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
, at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, and at the
University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
, South Africa. He was a fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...
and the
Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...
. In 2008 he became a member of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
.


Selected works

* *''The Politics of Assimilation: The French Jewish Community at the Time of the Dreyfus Affair'', 1971; second ed. 1980 (book publication of Ph.D. dissertation). *Coauthored with Robert O. Paxton, ''Vichy France and the Jews'', 1981. * *''The Unwanted: European Refugees in the 20th Century'', 1985. *''The Holocaust in History'', 1987. *''The Nazi Holocaust: Historical Articles on the Destruction of European Jews'', 9 volumes, 1989. Editor. *"Three Roads From
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
"; ''Tablet'' magazine; Nov. 20, 2015. *'' Samuel Bronfman: The Life and Times of
Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which trade name, traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational beverage and during the last few years of its existence, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ...
's Mr. Sam'', 1991. * * ''Lessons of the Holocaust''. Foreword by Margaret MacMillan.
University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calendar. Its first s ...
, 2015.


References


External links


The Holocaust at Nuremberg
– an article by Marrus
French Protestant Churches and the Persecution of the Jews in France
– an article by Marrus
Understanding the Vatican During the Nazi Period
– an article by Marrus
An interview with Prof. Marrus
Jerusalem 1997
Understanding the Vatican during the Nazi Period
an article by Marrus
Michael Marrus archival papers
held at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marrus, Michael 1941 births 2022 deaths Historians of Nazism 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Historians of France Jewish Canadian writers Jewish historians Historians of the Holocaust Historians of Vichy France Members of the Order of Canada Writers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian historians