UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Faculty and Staff

Remembering Stephen Feinstein

Dr. Stephen Feinstein, 1942-2008

Letter from Terry Brown
Dean, UWRF College of Arts & Sciences
March 5, 2008

I am very sad to inform you that Steve Feinstein, Professor Emeritus of History, passed away suddenly on Tuesday night [March 4, 2008]. Steve taught in the history department from 1969 to 1999. Since his retirement from UWRF, Steve served as the director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota. Most recently, Steve gave the inaugural talk in the Ed Peterson lecture series here last October. The thought-provoking lecture was titled "When 'Never Again' is a Cliché: The Complicated Role of Rescuers in Genocide."


The following is the announcement of his death that was posted on the website for U of M's Center for Genocide and  Holocaust Studies:

It is with great sadness that we announce that Steve Feinstein, the director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Adjunct Professor of History, died Tuesday, March 4. Steve was speaking at the Jewish Film Festival when he had difficulty finding words. He was taken to Abbott-Northwestern Hospital where he died of an aortic aneurism that resulted in cardiac arrest. His wife Sue was with him the entire time.

Steve had an amazingly generous nature and could get things accomplished that no one had ever conceived or thought possible. From its founding in 1997, he built the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies into a premier educational, research, and outreach institution, one that has international renown.

It's a sad day. We will all miss Steve's generous personality, constant stream of jokes, and deep commitment to the issues at the heart of CHGS's mission. More than anything else, he was a great humanitarian who believed that knowledge of the past could prevent atrocities in the future.

Steve leaves his wife Sue, two children, Jeremy and Rebecca, and two grandchildren. The funeral will be Friday, March 7 at 2:00 PM: Temple Beth-El, 5224 West 26th St., Saint Louis Park, MN 55416.

Stephen Feinstein Jens Gunelson/UWRF Communications

Dr. Feinstein, UWRF Professor Emeritus

Feinstein's Peterson Lecture Series Address, Oct. 2007

Stephen Feinstein Collection at UWRF

The majority of the books in this collection can be sent to individuals who are unaffiliated with UWRF through regular interlibrary loan channels. Interested parties should place requests through their local library.

Our sincere thanks to Dr. Feinstein's family for donating his vast Russian book collection.

A Tribute to Stephen Feinstein, Samuel Totten

In Memoriam, Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies Newsletter, Fall 2008

U professor dies at 65, UMNnews, March 6, 2008

U of M's Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies

Absence/Presence: Critical Essays on the Artistic Memory of the Holocaust, Syracuse University Press, August 2005.