Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner is a distinguished professor of history at American University in Washington, D.C., and holds the chair of Jewish history and culture at the University of Munich, Germany. His latest book is In Hitler’s Munich: Jews, the Revolution, and the Rise of Nazism.

By Michael Brenner

Opinion
My Holocaust survivor parents would be appalled by what became of their American dream

80 years after liberation, has the bastion of liberty they idolized changed irrevocably?

By Michael Brenner May 7, 2025 | 4 min read
Opinion
A CNN host apologized for comparing Trump to Nazis. But are there legitimate analogies?

On Monday night, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour apologized for comparing President Trump to the Nazis. A week earlier, on the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, Amanpour had compared Trump’s continuous assault on truth with the Nazi atrocities, triggering a storm of outrage from Jewish institutions worldwide. CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour invokes the murderous Nazi reign of…

By Michael Brenner Nov 17, 2020 | 4 min read
Opinion
‘Only a racist believes in race:’ On Germany’s failed attempt to erase race

The first time I was asked about my race was when I came to the U.S. as a Ph.D. student in history more than thirty years ago. One of the questions in Columbia University’s application form was about race. I had to think about which box to check. I knew I was neither Black nor…

By Michael Brenner Jul 5, 2020 | 4 min read
Opinion
Building Jewish Life on the Rubble of the Berlin Wall

The French writer François Mauriac is quoted with the sentence, “I love Germany so much that I am glad that there are two of them.” This was pretty much the attitude among the Jewish community in Germany, in which I grew up in the 1970s and ’80s. The Jews of postwar Germany felt protected by…

By Michael Brenner Nov 7, 2014 | 3 min read

Explore

Michael Brenner

By Michael Brenner

My Holocaust survivor parents would be appalled by what became of their American dream

A CNN host apologized for comparing Trump to Nazis. But are there legitimate analogies?

‘Only a racist believes in race:’ On Germany’s failed attempt to erase race

Building Jewish Life on the Rubble of the Berlin Wall

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As starvation mounts in Gaza, Jewish voices increasingly rise up in consternation

Grossinger’s iconic rye bread rises again — and won’t require a Catskills trip to obtain

Michael Brenner

By Michael Brenner

My Holocaust survivor parents would be appalled by what became of their American dream

A CNN host apologized for comparing Trump to Nazis. But are there legitimate analogies?

‘Only a racist believes in race:’ On Germany’s failed attempt to erase race

Building Jewish Life on the Rubble of the Berlin Wall

Most Popular

Gaza is starving. Where are the American Jewish leaders?

Remembering Ozzy Osbourne’s Jewish vow renewal

Cuomo says key factor in his primary loss was Mamdani’s support from young, Jewish and pro-Palestinian voters

American Jews were played — now what?

In Case You Missed It

Actually, Trump made things between Israel and Iran way worse

‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ sends The Thing to shul — and gives Jack Kirby credit

As starvation mounts in Gaza, Jewish voices increasingly rise up in consternation

Grossinger’s iconic rye bread rises again — and won’t require a Catskills trip to obtain

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