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Holocaust scholar resigns museum post amid controversy
DANIEL KURTZMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - In the end, John Roth decided his "happiness and well-being" would best be served 3,000 miles away from the specter of controversy hanging over the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Roth, an internationally renowned Holocaust scholar, resigned June 29 as director of the museum's Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, a post he was slated to officially begin in August.
The resignation came in the wake of sustained criticism over several articles he had written, including one he had written in 1988 in which he compared Israeli policies toward the Palestinians to the Nazis' treatment of Jews.
His decision left his critics satisfied and his supporters, including most officials of the museum, dismayed. In his letter of resignation, Roth said he decided that his "happiness and well-being - family, professional, and personal - will be served best" by remaining at Claremont McKenna College in California, where he chairs the philosophy and religious studies department.
Sara Bloomfield, the acting director of the museum, which is a federal institution, expressed "deep regret" following Roth's decision. "In spite of the public attention given to your appointment by a very few individuals, there was and continues to be very strong support for you as the right person for this important position," Bloomfield wrote to Roth after receiving his letter of resignation.
Last week, 40 prominent Holocaust scholars attending a conference in Europe came out in support of Roth, a non-Jew who was slated to become the first director of the new center. Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America and one of the most vocal critics of Roth's selection, however, pressed forward with his campaign to oust Roth.
Klein publicized a series of what he called "troubling writings" by Roth.
Responding to Roth's decision, Klein said the resignation "is in the best interests of the Holocaust museum, protecting its sacred purpose of teaching about the uniqueness of the Holocaust and the inappropriateness of loose analogies to other historical events."
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council voted overwhelmingly last month to reaffirm Roth's appointment and also unanimously passed a resolution repudiating the "character assassination" it said was being waged against him.
JTA correspondent Matthew Dorf contributed to this report.
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