Mel Mermelstein was a Holocaust survivor who successfully sued a group of Holocaust deniers and prompted a judge to declare that the many deaths were fact.
- Died: January 28, 2022 (Who else died on January 28?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in Long Beach, California of complications of COVID-19 at the age of 95.
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Holocaust horror
Mermelstein and his family were living in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia when World War II broke out. They were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where his parents and sisters were killed in gas chambers and his brother was killed in an apparent escape attempt. Mermelstein lived through the horrors of Auschwitz and was later able to resettle in the United States. There, he made a life for himself, first serving in the U.S. Army and working as a translator for the United Nations before founding a shipping pallet manufacturer and publishing his Holocaust memoir, “By Bread Alone: The Story of A-4685” in 1979.
Challenging Holocaust denial
When Mermelstein learned of a group of Holocaust deniers who were offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who could provide proof of the genocide at the hands of the Nazis, he responded by telling his story in letters to major newspapers. The group insisted that his personal memories weren’t proof, claiming that his family members hadn’t actually died. Mermelstein provided a notarized retelling of his experience in Auschwitz, but the group still didn’t accept it as proof. He ended up taking them to court, where a judge awarded him $90,000 and said that the murder of Jews at Auschwitz was “simply a fact.” The Holocaust deniers were required to issue Mermelstein a formal apology in addition to paying his reward.
Mermelstein founded the Auschwitz Study Foundation, a nonprofit that educates young people about the Holocaust. In the 1991 TV movie “Never Forget,” about his experiences with Holocaust deniers, he was portrayed by Leonard Nimoy (1931–2015).
Notable quote
“I’ve been asked, ‘Why study the Holocaust? Why not forget such horrors?’ My answer, as a survivor of the Holocaust, is ‘Because never before in recorded history has man revealed himself more than during this period. The mask of mankind has dropped and we must therefore take the opportunity to learn what it is in man that makes it possible for such a Holocaust to occur. What can we do to avoid future Holocausts? …. All these questions and more we must ask if we are to prevent the destruction of civilization. THE STUDY OF THE HOLOCAUST IS THE STUDY OF MANKIND.’” —from Mermelstein’s memoir
Tributes to Mel Mermelstein
Full obituary: The Washington Post
