Never again. These words, spoken more than 70 years ago at the conclusion of World War II, were meant to serve as a universal pledge against future genocide and gross human rights abuses. Whether the world has lived up to its promise is debatable, and as time passes, the horrors and atrocities of the Holocaust tend to fade from common memory. While many of even the youngest survivors of the Nazi concentration camps have passed away, some, including Czechoslovakian-born Judge Thomas Buergenthal, continue to share their important and surprisingly uplifting memoirs.
Buergenthal was 10 years old when he arrived at Auschwitz after surviving life in two Jewish ghettos and a labor camp. Even after being separated from the rest of his family, young Buergenthal managed to survive the horrors of the camp and arrived in the United States (after a miraculous reunion with his mother) in 1951 to begin a new life. For much of his illustrious career, Buergenthal served as a judge in the United Nations’ International Court of Justice in The Hague. A graduate of both NYU and Harvard Law School, Buergenthal is a specialist in international law and human rights law and was the 2008 recipient of the Gruber Prize for Justice for his contributions to protecting human rights in different parts of the world. His memoir, A Lucky Child, was published in 2010.
Buergenthal will appear in conversation with award-winning journalist Mike Gousha at Marquette University Law School at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 23.
