April 7, 2008
Saul Friedlander wins the Pulitzer
The 2008 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction went to Saul Friedländer for his book, "The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945."
Friedländer, who teaches history at the University of California at Los Angeles, survived the Holocaust by posing as a Gentile at a Catholic boarding school in France. His parents tried to escape occupied France by fleeing to Switzerland but they were captured and sent to Auschwitz where they were murdered by the Nazis.
After the war, Friedländer emigrated to Israel and served in the Israeli army. He later studied Political Science in Paris and, in 1959, worked as an assistant to then vice-minister of defense, Shimon Peres.
He received his doctorate degree from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 1963. He taught at that school until 1988 and, at the same time, taught at Hebrew University. He has taught at UCLA until 1988.
"Years of Extermination" is the follow-up to his 1997 book, "Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933-1939."
Friedländer, who became an American citizen seven years ago, has been telling interviewers what the Pulitzer means to him.
"I’m thrilled. It's a great honor," Friedlander said in a UCLA news release Monday. "It’s an important prize because it's an American prize that has a great meaning in this country."
Mazal tov, Saul.
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