Tributes to Dr. Stephen Feinstein

As a member of the team that provides support for the CHGS website, I will miss Stephen's daily updates. He worked incredibly hard -- often sending updates on the weekends and late at night. His passing is a great loss.

Stephen's intelligence, motivation, and sense of humor will all be deeply missed. His death is a terrible loss to the U of M and the greater human rights community, but our good memories of him will both inspire us and make us laugh.

It is always tragic to hear of ones passing, but when the individuals are distinguished scholars such as Prof. Stephen Feinstein and Eric Markusen, we are sadend further. Knowing that these great people will no longer be with us, their friendship and their courage to stand alongside the Armenian community in their fight for the recognition of the Genocide of our race.

We put great value to their sheer dedication, and are comforted to know that through their knowledge which they passed on to others, there will emerge other Feinsteins' the Markusens.

On behalf of the Armenian National Committee of Melbourne, we pass on our condolences to his family and also to you for losing your friend and fellow scholar. We hope our little words of sympathy lightens your heavy heart.

On behalf of the Program in Human Rights and Health and myself, I wish to express our sorrow and great appreciation for Stephen's work and friendship. Working together on the "Deadly Medicine" exhibition programming provided many hours of discussion, logistics, and also humor. Stephen has been and continues to be a great gift to this community through the legacy of his work. May Sue and all of you be comforted and carried.

Kirk Allison

The Directors, staff, fellows, and interns of the Human Rights Center, the Human Rights Program, and the Program in Human Rights and Health are deeply saddened to learn of the untimely death of Dr. Stephen Feinstein, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Stephen was a member of the advisory boards of the Human Rights Center and Program and a key advisor in all of our human rights institutions. He was an indomitable force for human rights in the world.

Stephen’s passing is a tragic loss to the University of Minnesota community and he will be deeply missed as both a colleague and a friend. His leadership in the anti-genocide community was unparalleled. He was an accomplished scholar, an energetic human rights advocate, and a devoted family man. His insight, intelligence, wit, and sense of humor were always appreciated. We will remember Stephen with the greatest affection and respect and we pledge to work together as a community to carry out his legacy to promote human dignity and to work ceaselessly to root out the causes of genocide in our world.


Kirk Allison, Program Director, Program in Human Rights and Health
Barbara Frey, Director, Human Rights Program
Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, Co-Director, Human Rights Center
David Weissbrodt, Co-Director, Human Rights Center

I was shocked and saddened to hear about Dr. Feinstein's passing.

His obit read "Because he was so devoted a scholar and so committed to the work of genocide scholarship that when he would add a humorous word or two, it would lighten things up."

Indeed, his keen sense of humor is one thing I will remember about him. I had the privilege of taking his Holocaust, Genocide, and Law course two years ago. His warm personality and sense of humor kept the class engaging.

I will also remember how students would look at each other in amazement at the level of detail with which he was able to describe historical events. He was clearly brilliant and utterly devoted to studying and teaching about genocide in order to better humanity.

The entire Minnesota human rights community has suffered a terrible loss. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

I am deeply shocked to hear of Srephen's passing. i know him since I was a student at Macalester College in the early-mid 70s. I admired his intellect, zest, and humor. As a Holocaust scholar, we met at many conferences and saw Stephen transfer into a scholar of the Holocaust and the arts.
He made a great contribution to Holocaust and genocide studies. He will be greatly missed. Zehi Zichro Baruch! Shalom, Yitzchak Kerem

I recently contacted Dr. Feinstein for help with my dissertation of second generation Holocaust survivors. After writing numerous anonymous letters to people to solicit support, I can say, not knowing Mr. Feinstein personally- that he was a responsive mensch.

Both myself and my wife Mary were students of Dr. Feinstein at Wisconsin River Falls in the mid 80's. We both send our best and sincere wishes to his family. Stephen was a great inspiration to me personally. He challenged me as a student to think and express original ideas. Moreover, he directed me as a young adult to "go experience the world" and that I did. Thanks Dr Feinstein - your inspiration lives on.

I hardly know what to say. Steve was a great friend, mentor, supporter, humane person, and all around good guy. He was an incredible gift to those of us who viewed the Holocaust as subject for our creative work. His passion for art, and this particularly difficult art, helped create a community of like minded artists who needed someone like Steve to support our collaborative efforts to ensure the memory of all those who were lost in the fire.

Steve was a dear friend who did incredibly important work, and facilitated the work of so many.

We at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre are heartsick at Stephen's passing. He was such an amazing human being, as a scholar and activist he was full of ideas, enthusiasm and humor. We first met him in 2004 when we were developing a production based on the life and work of Charlotte Salomon and knew him most recently as a member of our board of directors. His generosity and "can do" spirit made all seem possible. He will be keenly missed.

Dr. Feinstein ignited hope and my forgotten dreams for a better tomorrow. I am very honored to have a met a man who was so devoted to teaching the lessons from such violent histories to my generation. I am a better human being after being a student in his class.

The tragic news of the sudden and premature death of Stephen Feinstein strongly echoed in Jerusalem, where I teach. I did not have the opportunity to meet Stephen in person, and had only one (conference) telephone conversation with him. But I am aware of his tremendous contribution to the field of human rights, Holocaust and Genocide Studies worldwide, as well as to the establishment and development of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at UMN. His strong commitment to the community and to the university and his achievements in raising funds for development programs were outstanding. I, personally, am indebted to him for the efforts he made to bring me as a visiting professor to UMN for 2008-9. It is with deep sorrow that I express my condolences to his wife Susan, children, the entire family, the CHGS staff and all those who were close to him and share this great loss.
Yitzhak Reiter, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Dr. Feinstein was more than a close friend to our family. When we came to the United States in 1990 from the USSR, he was an amazing source of support and strength for us. We will forever owe him so much.

I will never forget his good deeds, kind words, and keen sense of humor.

His loss is deeply personally painful for me. My prayers are with his family.

I took classes with Dr. Feinstein through out the four years I was at the University. My mother’s family was “holocaust Jews” and my father is of German descent. This has always caused me internal conflict in regards to who I am. Prof. Feinstein kindly challenged me to look at that and learn more about myself and where I come from. Years later, I came to his office to obtain a letter of recommendation for law school. Not only did he remember me, but the papers that I had written throughout the years were scattered across his desk. I will remember Prof. Feinstein as a person who dared me to understand myself, a man who defined what a good person and what a good professor is, a man who was open to everyone’s thoughts and beliefs, a man who held tremendous knowledge, and a man whom I will never forget. I was so lucky to be touched by him.

Dr. Feinstein was one of my favorite professors and his class was one of the best I took of all my Ed classes. I always enjoyed talking to him and greatly admired him. He will be missed.

I was so sorry to hear the sad news of Dr. Feinstein's passing. I met Dr. Feinstein last fall when I showed him a "rough cut" of my short documentary, PRISONER 32,232 which chronicles the life of Buchenwald survivor, Reidar Dittmann. Dr. Feinstein and the CHGS gave me the funding to complete the project which went on to win an award at the MN History Center, and get accepted into the permanent film collection at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

My thoughts are with Dr. Feinstein's family, friends and colleagues.

What I most admired about Stephen was his broad and enthusiastic support for human rights, and for programs to oppose xenophobia and racism. He will be sorely missed.

I met Steve when he was teaching in River Falls. In the early 70's I was a social studies teacher in world history, and area studies. I also taught world religions. I did a unit on the Holocaust. When Steve heard about that he set up a workshop for my students at Hamline University. He did this for five years in a row. He lined up professors in Christian theology, canon law and other speakers to participate in this workshop.The workshop was on anti-semitism in Christian literature and how this related to the Holocaust and genocide. Steve even arranged for all of use to get a free lunch.There was no cost to this workshop. Well that's Steve. As was mentioned at the funeral, Steve could make things happen. I still bump into these students from the early 70's, who still remember this workshop experience and said this was the best educational experience that they ever had.The reason I mentioned this is that there is a saying, which I think came from the Talmud, that says something like "If you save one life,you save a whole humanity.". I witnessed the impact he has had on not only my students but on me and my teaching as well.Multiply this by all the lives he has impacted around the world.He has saved countless humanities. I not only feel we lost a friend and a great person, but we lost an institution in our local community, nationally and internationally. Carrie and I want to wish his family strength and health through this sad time in their lives."Hamkom y' nachem etchem b'toch sh'ar avalai tziyon vyerushalayim." Our thoughts are with you Susan, Jeremy, and Rebecca and your entire family. Jerry and Carrie Gottstein

Steve and his wife, Sue, are such dear friends of ours, he will be greatly missed as a friend and a person. He was funny, fun-loving, unique, surprising, made a great matzo-brei, and had a zest for life that is uncommon. As a scholar, speaker, curator, author and thinker, Steve was a force of energy and accomplished so much in holocaust and genocide education. His abrupt passing is heartbreaking and he will be missed by the many people he touched. The good that he did surely will go on. Our heartfelt embrace goes out to Sue and her children and grandchildren in their loss. Sara Nuss-Galles and Arie Galles

We were honoured to have Dr. Feinstein as a most worthy Speaker at Holocaust Education Week in Toronto last November. I had the unique privilege of delivering him to his speaking engagements and thereby had some personal contact with him. I am a child of Holocaust Survivors myself, and in a very short time, he allowed easy access to his knowledge and wealth of information. I was profoundly affected by the the moments I spent with him, and equally as much by the news of his death.

Like everyone who has heard this tragic news, I am in shock and grief. Most of us wonder what will happen now (not just in Minneapolis but in the Holocaust and Genocide field) with Steve gone. In many ways, it feels like I have known Steve forever—because of the many Holocaust and Genocide meetings and conferences we have both attended for 15-20 years, and the kinds of comments he would make at AHO (Association of Holocaust Organizations), Scholars’ Conference (of Churches and the Holocaust) and most recently, AIGS (Association of International Genocide Scholars).
This past summer, Steve and I both spoke at the Genocide conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia, which was an incredible experience, but it was the time we together spent afterward that I most appreciate.
Thanks to Steve’s and Sue’s generosity in allowing me to drive with them in a rental car from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik, we three spent several wonderful days together. In fact, the photo Steve took while we three explored the old walled city of Dubrovnik is one of my favorites. In his inimitable way, just as he did at every conference and meeting he attended, Steve effortlessly added insights into the history of the region, overviews and perspectives and little known details that made the experience even more meaningful.

In conferences and professional meetings, Steve would always make informative comments—not to show off, as many with his breadth of knowledge might have been tempted to be, but to augment the understanding of those present. Steve had a mind that seemed to remember everything he had ever learned, read, or heard, and he had a way of communicating that made the facts he was imparting as rich an experience as if we were living the history with him ourselves.

Steve also had a genius for knowing how to do what he did, and because of the extraordinarily high quality with which he seemed to do EVERYTHING, Steve made the rest of us better. Colleague and friend, Linda Hurwitz of Pittsburgh, has expressed the feelings of many when she said, “I adored Steve and feel devastated to hear of his sudden death. I never did an exhibit without his consultation. He will be dearly missed.”
I believe that even more than Steve’s genius for doing the work which he did so well was Steve’s even greater genius in knowing what people needed—and then knowing just how best to help them. Steve’s advice, consultation, encouragement could always be counted upon and, without exception, always so generously given.

We will all miss Steve professionally, and those lucky enough to have shared personal time with him—in conversations, dinners, projects or more—will miss his goofy smile, his clever and irrepressible wit, and his unending goodness. May his family be comforted in their grief and may Steve’s memory be a blessing for the many whose lives he touched, and for the many about whom he cared.

I knew Steve Feinstein through several connections: on the staff at U of WI, River Falls, as a devoted model railroader who attended Twin Cities model railroad events, a member of Train Collectors Association and as a friend who shared resources on the Coexistence exhibit, information on the Roma- material used at various churches,educational insitutions and community groups. His immediate response to requests, his humor, his broad-yet-specific knowledge of the arts, areas of human injustice, plus love of those trains...will all be sorely missed. Condolences to his family, friends and the staff at the Center at the University.

Stephen Feinstein's passing was such a terrible shock to me. The void has left me feeling sad and empty, with the knowledge that this great and kind human being cannot be replaced. My heart goes out to Susan and the family at this time of loss and sorrow. It is hard to believe that Steve will not be sending another e-mail, or waving his arms to say hello from across the room, or speaking at another community event. He was such a kind, brilliant, amazing person who practiced what he preached - respect and tolerance for human differences. Steve was my History of the Holocaust class professor, and he was great. After telling my own Holocaust story to his class at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, he encouraged me to continue telling my unique story to students around the Twin Cities, which I have done, through the CHAIM organization. Steve loved to share with others that my picture was in a 1944 Life magazine story about refugees arriving from Europe. He had saved that issue because his wife, Susan, was born around that same time, and history was his passion. I will miss him more than words can say.

I met Stephen on the bus traveling through Galicia, in Southern Poland, as part of the Legacy of the Holocaust Conference in Krakow in May 2007. All the raucous laughter and exciting conversation was around his seat on the bus. We talked about Jewish comedy and film. I interviewed him on video about the tensions between Galitzianers and Litvaks as the bus bounced through the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. He was generous with his time. It's an understatement and a cliche to say that he inspired me, but he did. It was during his keynote about Holocaust art when I had an epiphany about my own future scholarly pursuits. He made such a lasting impression that I called my wife to tell her how inspired by and excited I was about this guy, Stephen Feinstein. So sorry for Susan and the family, and everyone who will miss him in so many ways. A great man.

It is with deep sorrow that I learned wednesday morning of the death of Professor Stephen Feinstein. It has been a great honor to have known him.I will remember him for all his talents, his generosity, his great humor and how supportive he was for my work on the Holocaust.He will be dearly missed. He was a humanitarian and such a great man.
My deep condolences to his family for this great loss.

Stephen was truly a "mench". He believed in helping others, and had a passion for carrying on the memories of those lost in the Holocaust. I was working with him prior to his death on a "personal mission" to do just that. He will be truly missed.

Stephen was my advisor when I was a graduate student the University of Wisconsin. I will never forget his kindness and compassion. He was such a source of inspiration to his students. Stephen could teach about the darkest aspects of humanity, yet still bring out the best in us.

I am still in shock and disbelief of Dr. Feinstein's untimely death. I am an artist who's work he first encountered when we met in London in 1995, at the exhibiton entitled "After Auschwitz: Responses to the Holocaust in Contemporary Art".He from then on tirelessly supported and encouraged me in arranging exhibits for my work and gave me the confidence I needed to continue working. He and his wife Sue were grecious hosts and real friends to me when I visited Minneapolis for the opening of my exhibition there. I will miss him, and I hope Sue and his family can find solace in all his important contributions to humanity.
Daisy Brand, Newton, Mass.

With the great sorrow we have heard about the death of Dr. Stephen Feinstein, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota, on Tuesday, March 4.

Dr. Feinstein was an internationally-renowned scholar, teacher, and humanist. We appraise at its true worth his studies and activities on the Armenian Genocide.

Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute presents our deep condolence to Dr. Stephen Feinstein’s family and also to you for losing your friend and great individual.

Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute

I am shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the abrupt passing of Stephen Feinstein. I got to know him in Florida when he came there some years ago and he worked with me on a film project on the Holocaust (yet unreleased). That was the start of our friendship, and this news today reporting his death is terribly sad.

Shelomo Alfassa
New York City

For the past several years, Dr. Feinstein was one of our keynote speakers at the annual Martin and Doris Rosen Holocaust Symposium at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. I got to know Steve on a personal basis and when I heard the news about his untimely passing, it not only shocked and saddened me, but affected everyone associated with our Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies.

The messages of hope and peace that emanated from that dark period of Holocaust history that Steve taught so many will be enormously missed. He was a very special scholar, a very special person and a very special friend.

Ron Ruthfield

Member, Steering Committee
Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC

I met Stephen in 1994 when he came to my Chicago loft to see my art installation for the exhibit "Witness and Legacy" he was curating. His friendship throughout these years has meant a great deal to me. He was that rare intellect, a person of compassion, integrity, generosity and humor who spread joy to all. I mourn his loss.

My deep condolences to his wife Susan and their family.

I want to take this venue to thank Steve for so much. He was a mentor and a friend to me. Without his support I never would have received a grant from the Regis Foundation to launch the Center for Genocide, Holocaust, and Human Rights Studies at UMD. We shared speakers and programming. Steve overflowed with ideas about fund raising. He encouraged my research on the MGM feature film of 1940, The Mortal Storm. Because of him I was able to present my work at three conferences. We both shared intellectual origins in the field of Russian History. On that note, the latest issue of The Slavic Review contains an article by Robert Weinberg entitled "Demonizing Judaism in the Soviet Union in the 1920s." It contains several references to the work of the late John Klier, who passed away from cancer in September of last year. John headed the Dept. of Jewish Studies at the Univ. of London and was a dear friend to me. In the space of 7 months the field has lost two giants. If nothing else, this area of study teaches that one must pick up and go on.

It is very difficult for me to accept the passing of Dr. Stephen Feinstein. During the mid-eighties, he was my graduate school advisor at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls. I would like to share, that Steve would once in a while, express helpful sayings to those students who needed encouragement. One of his statements was: "A mind without study, is a pool of mush." He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten!

The officers and Board of the Virginia Holocaust Museum note with sadness and dismay the passing of Dr. Stephen Feinstein. Our organization was fortunate in having him visit our museum in the summer of 2007 to share his extensive knowledge of the Holocaust with us. We benefited greatly from his scholarship, wisdom and expertise.

Remembering Stephen Feinstein

I will always call up Stephen’s humor. No matter how serious a situation we were engaged in, and how early in the morning I might be calling him – this usually had to do with Turkish nationalists and the on-going business of the attack on the history of the Armenian Genocide – Stephen could cut a joke in a second and have me laughing. He could shed absurd-light on the deniers and think clearly and deeply about the contexts that spawned them.

He was a fine scholar who had a deep sense of the importance of artistic imagination in the face of and aftermath of atrocity and mass violence. He brought together Native American, Jewish-American, African-American, Armenian-American and other artists in an important exhibit "Absence/Presence” he put on at the University of Minnesota in 1999, and the following year he collected a group of essays on those artists and it was a pleasure to contribute one on Bob Barsamian’s installation, “Ashfall.” He was always exploring the relationship between history and imagination in inventive ways, in his scholarship and in his teaching and curating.

I greatly enjoyed teaching his class on several occasions when I lectured at the University of Minnesota at his invitation. He was always warm and embracing, always expansive in his intellectual vision. As advisory board members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, we worked together by email and phone throughout the year, and Stephen’s engagements with complex issues were always nuanced and careful, always contextualized and thought through deeply, and I found his view of things continually valuable as we worked together to make assessments of issues that the organization was wrestling with. I found Stephen’s perspective more durable than most.

I am grateful for the time we spent together in Sarajevo this past July, for the dinners I had with Stephen and Sue and Eric and others, and grateful for his counsel as we hashed out difficult issues in board meetings.

Stephen’s attentiveness to the Armenian Genocide and the growing discourse on this history meant a great deal to all of us in the field. Stephen’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center at the University of Minnesota set a high standard for scholarship on the Armenian Genocide and conversation about genocide studies in a comparative sense. His energy and work as teacher and scholar touched many.

I will miss Stephen’s kindness and friendship and his wisdom, wit, and humor – his understanding of the joke as a response to human madness.

—Peter Balakian, March 6, 2008

Of one America’s most knowledge experts on genocide suddenly passed away a few days ago.

Historian Stephen Feinstein, 65, died on the job last week during a presentation at the Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival. Feinstein lapsed mid-sentence during his remarks. His wife reportedly rushed to his side and summoned paramedics. But at the hospital nothing could be done to repair what was close to an aortic aneurism. The loss to his family, to his friends, to the community and to scholarship will be permanent.

As the founder and director the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Feinstein was a expert on the unlimited darkness surrounding humanity’s greatest atrocities—the effort to destroy an entire people by means of genocide. His collection of books and articles was on the finest. His cavernous knowledge of the small but important details was as encyclopedic. As smart as he was, he was never afraid to learn more, and raced toward new facts the way a thirsty man runs toward water.

Feinstein fearlessly devoted himself to the spectrum of the evil, from the Holocaust, to the decimation of the American Indian, to the Turkish genocide against Armenians, to the current systematic mass murders in Darfur. He was fearless because he stood up to the politics of genocide. Although pressured and threatened by Turkish elements, he refused to desist in publicizing and documenting the Ottoman genocide against Armenians. When the USHMM in Washington tried to dismiss the Nazi-allied pogrom against Iraqi Jews, known as “the Farhud,” Feinstein refused to back down. When it came time to shine a bright light on the Carnegie Institution’s financial and scientific support for Nazi eugenics, he worked vigorously.

I knew him as a close friend, a man who responded instantly by email, but never carried a cell phone… a man who was as knowledgeable as any about current events, but refused to subscribe to cable TV… a man who invited me as a University lecturer on more than one occasion to Minneapolis, but refused to let me stay in a hotel, instead insisting I be a guest in his own home.

Like all his friends, I knew Feinstein’s other side. When one spends your entire day studying the most depressing aspects of history, two unstoppable feelings grip you. Sometimes your clinical academic stride is suddenly pierced by jolting disconsolation. Sometimes you relieve the pressure with jokes. Feinstein was a ceaseless jokester. That made him so human in a field of inhumanity, and helped those around him know that his view held that progress required rising above it—and that meant breaking free from the paralysis of evil deeds. Once he and I shared a meal of Mongolian yak in a Minneapolis ethnic restaurant. He never let me forget it, making yak jokes at almost every turn.

Since obituaries by friends can be objective only to a point, let me confess the following. I have worked closely with literally hundreds of historians and experts around the world. They have their names engraved in granite in the great centers of learning, from Berlin to Jerusalem to London. But the ones I trust the most can be counted on one hand: Bob and Sam and a few others. Feinstein in Minneapolis was amongst those five. We have lost him today, but history will remember his work for a long time.

Edwin Black
The Cutting Edge News
March 12th, 2008

Tuesday March the 4th Dr. Stephen Feinstein, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, died of an aortic aneurism that led to cardiac arrest while he was speaking at the Jewish Film Festival. Steve was 65. He died doing what he loved, what he was passionate about, what consumed him. He died talking about the Holocaust. His death leaves us, his family, his colleagues, and his friends, his students breathless, bereft, and stunned.

Steve was such a presence for all of us. He encouraged us; he supported us with positive ideas with suggestions of resources with exciting collaborations. His research and writing on art and literature of the Holocaust, getting recognition of the Armenian Genocide, on Darfur, on developing teaching materials on genocide was critical. His emails and his sharing of ideas and concerns with colleagues all over the world will be missed. He was the ultimate information source. Never to see his daily emails again is painful.

Most important of all was his gentle sense of humor and his smile. Steve was working with a group of us from the US and Poland to prepare to teach about the Holocaust to Polish teachers this summer. His death is an unbelievable loss not only to his wife and children, his colleagues, friends and students at the University of Minnesota but to all of us struggling to fight against the indifference and hate that leads to the greatest scourge of humanity—genocide.

Samuel M. Edelman
The Cutting Edge News
March 12, 2008

Our deepest condolences, we are distraught by this unexpected and terrible news. We remember Steve as a great person, inspiring speaker, and original scholar, and it would be fully justified if he would still be awarded the Outstanding Service Award posthumously.

Even from a limited acquaintance with him one quickly realized his generosity was boundless. His altruism was heartwarming and truly exemplary. Most of all, Steve had a great sense of humor with a vast repertoire of humorous anecdotes. Whenever one thinks of him, one cannot but smile about his wit and whenever telling anybody one of his jokes, he is credited as the source. Because of his great sense of humor, we will remember him not only as a dear colleague, but also as a very agreeable person.

Again, our condolences and deepest sympathy go out to his family.

I worked for Dr. Feinstein in the beginning stages of the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies. Those were the best years of my life, partly because of his humor and outlook on life (despite the grim topics he discussed and encountered).

I will always keep a piece of him in my heart...he was the greatest mentor a young person could ever have. I am not from Minnesota originally, but Sue and Steve were my parents away from home, and I will always love them for that. A while back, I had just met Steve and Sue at their house for a nosh, and of course he had to do his Borat and Donald duck impressions for me. This coming from a person who had the knowledge and fortitude to explore new territories in the histories of the Holocaust and genocide.

I cannot even begin to list all of the wonderful experiences and opportunities I had while working with him. It changed me as a person, into a deeper thinker, a questioner of everything.

What I'd like to convey is that I truly felt a connection to him, as I'm sure many others did as well. That was his special gift.

HONORING STEPHEN FEINSTEIN
_____

HON. TIMOTHY J. WALZ
OF MINNESOTA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, March 14, 2008

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I rise in memory of Stephen Feinstein, the director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and adjunct professor of history at the University of Minnesota, who died unexpectedly on March 4, 2008. He was 64.

Born in Philadelphia and educated at Villanova and New York Universities, Prof. Feinstein taught for 30 years at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota. From its founding in 1997, he built the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies into an internationally renowned educational, research, and outreach institution that was engaged with a broad range of human rights issues, including the Armenian Genocide, the treatment of Native Americans, and the humanitarian crises in East Africa. To end genocide, he once said, ‘‘we must study it and understand how it works against what we call ‘civilization’,’’ if possible to develop an ‘‘early warning system’’ to prevent future genocides.

Feinstein was known around the world as an advocate for Holocaust survivors and genocide education, and in particular, for his expertise on artistic expression and genocide. In addition to his CHGS responsibilities and activities, he served as an art consultant and guest curator for numerous museums, universities and art galleries in Minnesota, Florida, New York and Washington, D.C.

‘‘Above all else,’’ said his colleague Eric Weitz, ‘‘Stephen Feinstein was a great humanitarian, someone with a profound belief in the value of research and education, a person who truly believed that if we had just one more lecture about Darfur, ran one more outreach session with teachers on the Armenian Genocide, taught one more course on the Holocaust and genocides, it really could make a difference and the world would be a better place for all of us.’’

I first met Dr Stephen Feinstein in 1995 when he read a review of my solo exhibition and my being a child of holocaust survivor parents. He came to my show, was very moved about my self-portrait painting collages and told me he would include my work in the future of curated exhibitions. He championed my painting collages and included me in the upcoming exhibition scheduled for Winter 2009 at the Florida Holocaust Museum entitled, GENDERED WOMEN FACE THE HOLOCAUST. I only found out last night of his passing, when I emailed him to inform him of the Downtown Los Angeles Life Magazine impending article on Holocaust artists for the April Issue. In the email-I discovered that he had passed away. I am deeply saddened as he was a great man, great scholar, and was so funny! My heart goes out to his family and colleagues, and to the other artists who loved and adored him, his support and great sense of humor.

I have Dr. Feinstein's business card here on my desk. I met him once, after recording Harriet Washington's lecture last month.

I stopped short in front of a Minnesota Daily news rack the morning of March 6 when I saw that he had died.

What struck me most about their story about Dr. Feinstein is that he was educating people in ethical and world historical terms up to his last moment.

The news of Stephens passing was for me unexpected and profound.

We first met at the Remembering for the Future conference in oxford in 2000 when he came to my exhibition at Keble college.we became firm friends from that moment, his enthusiasm and generosity over the years to me was boundless and enlightening.

On one of his (Summer)visits to Ireland with Susan and friends, I received a distress call from Dingle Co Kerry, Stephen having had enough of Irish weather (four seasons in one day) and winding pot holed roads was all too much for him, civilization and culture beckoned. When Susan and friends rejoined us in Dublin, we had a memorable night of Irish music and craic at the brazen head.

I have a abiding memory of Stephen at our last meeting in Galway, when we saluted each other adieu. The traveler prophet with a message.

Our thoughts are with Susan and family
Ar dheis De go raibh a anim dilis.

David Dunne
Jane Barry
Dublin, Ireland.

I am saddened by news of Prof. Feinstein passing. I have never met anyone like him. I was lucky enough to meet him as year student Holocaust Studies.I spent many time discussing my favorite subject of genocide, mechanisms of genocide around the world it classification. I haven't kept in touch with him since I left the U. Because of him I had a chance to see the atrocities of the Holocaust through the eyes of the victims living in the twin-cities. He's a great teacher and intellect. The time I spent discussing topics of genocide and ethnic cleansing and human rights are time I will cherish. I shall remember him with every cup of coffee. He was an incredible man and humanitarian at that. He will be missed. My condolences to all who have know him prof. Feinstein.

Lul

Simply glancing through the tributes below, we can see just how many people Dr. Stephen Feinstein touched. This past semester, I had the great honor to work in the CHGS office as an intern. From day one, Dr. Feinstein made me feel like part of the CHGS family. Whatever questions or concerns I had, he was never too busy to stop and share his knowledge with me. Nor did he ever waste an opportunity to tell me one of his witty jokes. Although I have to admit, most of the time his jokes were too intelligent for me to understand. Even so, I am sure we all know the infamous Donald Duck voice which could make anyone laugh. Every day I stepped into the office, I was home; learning and laughing more than anyone probably should “at work”.

I do not know if I will ever understand the depths of Dr. Feinstein’s knowledge and contribution to Genocide Studies and Human Rights activism. His reach was infinite. When I told Dr. Feinstein about my plans to study in Argentina this semester, to no one’s surprise, he of course had contacts to share with me in even all the way down in Buenos Aires.

To the CHGS family: Dr. Akcam, Ellen, Luke, Teresa, Jessika and Orit you are in my thoughts and prayers. In honor of Dr. Feinstein’s immeasurable legacy, I am confident that you are continuing to educate and inspire the CHGS community.

My deepest condolences go out to Dr. Feinstein’s family during this very difficult time. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your wonderful Dr. Feinstein with all of us. I feel so blessed to have known and worked with Dr. Feinstein.

With love,
Anna Donnelly

Please send my most sincere sympathies to Dr Feinstein's family. I took a class with him several years ago. He was a hugely encouraging teacher, very kind and funny too (who would have thought that a class on genocide would have laughter?). I have thought of his class often over the years and I was so sad to read the news of his passing.

Steve has had great impact on how I teach my students. I am thankful for all I have learned from him and wish I could take one more class.

I always knew that despite being a student of history and the Holocaust, that Stephen would be there to add a note of further exploration and scholarship to my understanding. He will be missed, his humor, personality, and his convivial self. He joins all those who perished in various genocides in a well deserved final resting place. Thank you for your influence and impact on those who will follow you and take up your mantle. Sincerely, Elliot Miller