Fonds 1517 - Michael Marrus fonds

Identity area

Reference code

UTA 1517

Title

Michael Marrus fonds

Date(s)

  • 1964-2012 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

2.73 m of textual records
67 3.5 inch floppy disks
42 photographs
3 sound recordings (cassette tapes)

Context area

Name of creator

(1941-2022)

Biographical history

Michael R. Marrus (1941- 2022 ) was a University of Toronto professor and historian who was an internationally-recognized expert on the Holocaust and Jewish and French history.

Born in Toronto, Prof. Marrus received his BA from the University of Toronto in 1963. He then received his MA (1964) and PhD (1968) at the University of California, Berkeley. He also received his Master of Studies in Law from the University of Toronto in 2005.

Prof. Marrus began his career at the University of Toronto as Assistant Professor of History in 1968. He became Associate Professor in 1973, full Professor in 1978, and Professor Emeritus in 2009. Prof. Marrus also served as the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies from 2000 to 2006 (and since 2007, as Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies). He also taught as an adjunct in the Faculty of Law since 2006.

In addition to his teaching and research duties, Prof. Marrus served the University of Toronto in many administrative capacities, including on Governing Council (1987-1996, 2002-2009, 2010-) and as Dean of the School of Graduate Studies (1997-2004).

Prof. Marrus was a visiting fellow of St. Antony’s College, Oxford and the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a visiting professor at UCLA and the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

During his career, Prof. Marrus published numerous articles and books on the Holocaust and the treatment of Jewish people in France during the Second World War. Some of his most notable books include The politics of assimilation: a study of the French Jewish community at the time of the Dreyfus Affair (1971), Vichy France and the Jews (1981), The unwanted: European Refugees in the Twentieth Century (1985), The Holocaust in history (1987), Mr. Sam: the life and times of Samuel Bronfman (1991), and Some measure of justice: the Holocaust era restitution campaign of the 1990s (2009). He was also editor of a fifteen-volume work, The Nazi Holocaust: historical articles on the destruction of European Jews (1992). Prof. Marrus presented his research in both local and international settings, at numerous conferences, academic gatherings, and community group events.

Prof. Marrus was appointed to serve on the International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission, which consisted of three Jewish and three Catholic scholars tasked with exploring the role of the Vatican during the Holocaust. The commission worked from 1999 to 2001, and issued a report in 2000. In 2008, Marrus was awarded the Order of Canada.

Prof. Marrus married Randi Greenstein in 1971 and had three children. Following a period of ill health, Marrus died on Dec. 23rd, 2022.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Fonds consists of correspondence, news clippings, reports, reviews, appointment calendars, and other records relating to Michael R. Marrus’s education, academic career, publishing record and university and community service. In particular, records document Prof. Marrus’s prestigious career as a historian of the Holocaust and an expert on the relationships between Christians and Jews (predominantly in France) during World War Two, and also document his involvement in ongoing concerns in the Jewish community, both pertaining to faith and Zionism. In particular, Prof. Marrus’s extensive publishing record is well-documented in contracts, reviews, and ongoing correspondence with readers and colleagues debating and exploring the assertions made in his work. The fonds also documents Prof. Marrus’s career as a student at Berkeley in the 1960s, and his return to student life with his pursuit of a Master of Studies in Law degree (MSL) from the University of Toronto in 2004. Some records also relate to Prof. Marrus’s teaching duties and appointments at the University of Toronto, as well as his service on the University’s Governing Council. One series documents his service on the International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission (1999-2001) and with the Friends of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Series 1 and 8 are open. Lecture notes in series 5 are open; all else is restricted until 1 January 2031. Series 2-4, 6, 7 and 9 are restricted until 1 January 2031.

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • German

Script of material

Language and script notes

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Finding aids

Uploaded finding aid

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

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Notes area

Note

Some material (primarily in correspondence and publication files) is in French and German.

Alternative identifier(s)

Accession

B2011-0009

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Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Dates of creation revision deletion

-Original finding aid by Karen Suurtamm
-Added to AtoM by Karen Suurtamm, June 2016

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