Mark Klempner
Encyclopedia
Mark Klempner is a folklorist
, oral historian
and social commentator.
, and attended Cornell University
, graduating Phi Beta Kappa
in 1997, and winning a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. In 2000, he received an M.A.
in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
.
, and was originally funded by a research grant from the Institute for European Studies at Cornell University
. Most of the rescuers he interviewed were previously unknown to the general public, with the exception of Miep Gies
, who tried to save Anne Frank
and her family. Because Klempner is the son of a Jewish immigrant who barely escaped the Holocaust, he found that his subjects sometimes looked at him as the child or grandchild of the Jews they rescued. He later conducted archival research at The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
and The Netherlands Institute for War Documentation. The published book contains a foreword by renowned Holocaust historian Christopher Browning
.
for mainstream periodicals such as the Christian Science Monitor and the Baltimore Sun as well as progressive religious periodicals like the National Catholic Reporter
and Tikkun
. His op-eds
often tackle difficult political and social issues, such as his piece "The Internet: Our Last Hope for a Free Press," which has received more than 1,000 Digg
s. He has also been featured as a radio commentator on Morning Edition
, and has been interviewed on Air America Radio
, NPR
, Prime Time Radio and other broadcast media in the United States
. He has also been an interviewer, most notably of author Tracy Kidder
, who spoke with Klempner about his portrait of Dr. Paul Farmer
found in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains
. Klempner's articles have appeared on the internet at such sites as Common Dreams, Alternet
, The Huffington Post, The Social Edge and Sojo Mail, the weekly newsletter of Jim Wallis
' Sojourners community.
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, oral historian
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
and social commentator.
Early life
Klempner grew up in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and attended Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, graduating Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
in 1997, and winning a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. In 2000, he received an M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
.
The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage
Klempner spent nearly a decade talking with and getting to know Dutch "Righteous Among the Nations" in order to write The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage, Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2006. He found the rescuers through Yad VashemYad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, and was originally funded by a research grant from the Institute for European Studies at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. Most of the rescuers he interviewed were previously unknown to the general public, with the exception of Miep Gies
Miep Gies
Miep Gies was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank, her family and several family friends in an attic annex above Anne's father's place of business from the Nazis during World War II...
, who tried to save Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
and her family. Because Klempner is the son of a Jewish immigrant who barely escaped the Holocaust, he found that his subjects sometimes looked at him as the child or grandchild of the Jews they rescued. He later conducted archival research at The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
and The Netherlands Institute for War Documentation. The published book contains a foreword by renowned Holocaust historian Christopher Browning
Christopher Browning
Christopher Robert Browning is an American historian of the Holocaust.-Education:Browning received his bachelor's degree from Oberlin College in 1968 and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1975. He taught at Pacific Lutheran University from 1974 to 1999, eventually becoming...
.
Historical, Social, Political, and Cultural Commentary
Klempner's articles on oral history methodology have appeared internationally in professional journals and anthologies such as The Oral History Reader. He has also been a guest columnistColumnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
for mainstream periodicals such as the Christian Science Monitor and the Baltimore Sun as well as progressive religious periodicals like the National Catholic Reporter
National Catholic Reporter
The National Catholic Reporter is the second largest Catholic newspaper in the United States; its circulation reaches ninety-seven countries on six continents. Based in midtown Kansas City, Missouri, NCR was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964 as an independent newspaper focusing on the Catholic Church...
and Tikkun
Tikkun
Tikkun/Tikun is a Hebrew word meaning "Fixing/Rectification". It has several connotations in Judaism:Traditional:*Tikkun , a book of Torah scroll text, used when learning to chant Torah portions or for correct-fixed scribal calligraphy...
. His op-eds
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
often tackle difficult political and social issues, such as his piece "The Internet: Our Last Hope for a Free Press," which has received more than 1,000 Digg
Digg
Digg is a social news website. Prior to Digg v4, its cornerstone function consisted of letting people vote stories up or down, called digging and burying, respectively. Digg's popularity prompted the creation of copycat social networking sites with story submission and voting systems...
s. He has also been featured as a radio commentator on Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
, and has been interviewed on Air America Radio
Air America Radio
Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...
, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, Prime Time Radio and other broadcast media in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He has also been an interviewer, most notably of author Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder
John Tracy Kidder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer of the 1981 nonfiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation...
, who spoke with Klempner about his portrait of Dr. Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer
Dr. Paul Edward Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician. He is currently the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University, formerly the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician and Chief...
found in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World is a non-fiction, biographical work by American writer Tracy Kidder. The story traces the life of physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer. The book was a New York Times Notable Book for 2003.-External links:*...
. Klempner's articles have appeared on the internet at such sites as Common Dreams, Alternet
AlterNet
AlterNet, a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a progressive/liberal activist news service. Launched in 1998, AlterNet now claims a readership of over 3 million visitors per month .AlterNet publishes original content as well as journalism from a wide variety of other sources...
, The Huffington Post, The Social Edge and Sojo Mail, the weekly newsletter of Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis is an American evangelical Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name....
' Sojourners community.
External links
- The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage (Klempner´s official Web site)
- Interview with Mark Klempner found at www.hearthasreasons.com"
- Interview by Mark Klempner: "A Conversation With Tracy Kidder About 'Mountains Beyond Mountains'"
- Tales of Courage Changed His Life (article on Klempner from the Raleigh News & Observer)
- Navigating Life Review Interviews with Survivors of Trauma, Oral History Review, Summer/Fall 2000 issue
- Forgiveness and Hope in the China Cabinet, National Catholic Reporter, May 7, 2004
- Fearing ´Munich´ Bush Misread Baghdad, Raleigh News & Observer
- Light in Darkness, Catholic New Times, November 2006 (book review of The Heart Has Reasons)
- "Time for new Marshall Plan to rebuild, heal world", The Baltimore Sun, April 11, 2007
- "Don't let technology take over", The Christian Science Monitor, June 25, 2007
- Internet: Our Last Hope for a Free Press", Commondreams.org, September 28, 2007
- Links to Mark Klempner's most recent articles.
See also
- List of people who assisted Jews during the Holocaust
- Righteous Among the NationsRighteous Among the NationsRighteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
- List of Righteous Among the Nations by country
- Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
- Miep GiesMiep GiesMiep Gies was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank, her family and several family friends in an attic annex above Anne's father's place of business from the Nazis during World War II...
- Anne FrankAnne FrankAnnelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...