Michael Marrus

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Michael Robert Marrus (born February 3, 1941) is a Canadian historian of France, the Holocaust and Jewish history. He was born in Toronto and received his BA at the University of Toronto in 1963 and his MA and PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in 1964 and 1968. He teaches at the University of Toronto. He married Randi Greenstein in 1971 and has three children.

Marrus is an expert on the history of French Jewry and anti-semitism. He co-wrote with Robert Paxton a book on Vichy France that shows that the anti-semitism of Vichy was not imposed by the Germans, that at times Vichy was more brutal towards the French Jews than the Germans and the French state played a leading and indispensable role in organizing the deportation of Jews to death camps. Furthermore, Marrus and Paxton argued that Vichy was more brutal than other European states occupied by the Germans.

Marrus's book the Holocaust in History is a well-regarded historiographical survey. Marrus wants the Holocaust to be seen as tragedy for humanity, not just Jews. In his book, Marrus was able to offer a synthesis such as the Functionist vs Intentionist views of the origins of the Holocaust.

[edit] Work

• The Politics of Assimilation: The French Jewish Community at the Time of the Dreyfus Affair, 1980.
• co-written 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.
• Samuel Bronfman: The Life and Times of Seagram's Mr. Sam, 1991.
• "Reflections on the Historiography of the Holocaust" pages 92-116 from the Journal of Modern History, Volume 66, 1994.