The children of survivors must navigate between the intimate legacy of their parents’ experiences and their own encounter—via books, films, and other sources—of the Holocaust as a historical event. As the last survivors pass away and lived memory of the event disappears with them, what special role—if any—should their children play in representing and interpreting the Holocaust? Professor Nathaniel Deutsch, the Neufeld-Levin Endowed Chair of Holocaust Studies, whose father was saved by a righteous gentile during World War II, will participate in a public conversation with Ethan Michaeli, a journalist and author, whose mother survived Auschwitz as a teenager.

Ethan Michaeli is an award-winning journalist and publisher whose writing has appeared in The Nation, The Forward, The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine and In These Times, among other publications. He is the founder and director of We The People Media/Residents’ Journal, a non-profit dedicated to working with Chicago Housing Project residents. Michaeli is currently writing The Defender: How Chicago’s Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America, from the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, forthcoming), a book about the Chicago Defender, the country’s most important African American newspaper, where he worked as a reporter and editor from 1991 to 1996. Michaeli’s work is inspired by his parents, both of whom are Holocaust survivors.

Ethan’s work is inspired by his parents, both of whom are survivors of the Holocaust. He lives in Chicago with his wife and son.