THOMAS BUERGENTHAL, A VIEW FROM THE BENCH
Born in Czechoslovakia, Thomas Buergenthal was one of the youngest survivors of the Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen concentration camps. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 17.
Buergenthal is now a judge at the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. He has served as judge, vice president, and president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (1979-1991); as well as judge, vice president, and president of the Administrative Tribunal of the Inter-American Development Bank (1989-1994). From 1992-1993, he served on the United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador.
Judge Buergenthal has served as chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience. He has also taught at several leading law schools. He has written more than a dozen books and numerous articles on international law, human rights, and comparative law.
Buergenthal's experiences as both a Holocaust survivor and an international judge shape his unique perspective on the nature of justice after genocide.
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Life After the Holocaust: Thomas Buergenthal »
