Abraham H. Foxman, Holocaust Survivor and Defining Voice Against Antisemitism

The USC Shoah Foundation mourns the passing of Abraham H. “Abe” Foxman, Holocaust survivor and longtime national director of the Anti-Defamation League. He was one of the most influential Jewish leaders in the global fight against antisemitism and hate. He was 86.

For decades, Foxman led efforts to confront antisemitism and extremism. He also opposed Holocaust denial and all forms of bigotry. A Holocaust survivor, he turned his personal history into a lifelong commitment that guided his advocacy, education, and moral responsibility.

As Robert Williams, CEO and Finci-Viterbi Chair of the USC Shoah Foundation stated: “Abe possessed a deep and thoughtful humanity that meant so much to so many of us, including me. He was one of the first people I contacted upon joining the USC Shoah Foundation because his leadership, experience, and insight are simply irreplaceable. Abe’s influence on our field and mission will endure long after us.”

From Survival to Leadership

Foxman was born in 1940 in Baranovichi, then part of Poland and now Belarus. During the Holocaust, his parents entrusted him to their Polish Catholic nanny, Bronislawa Kurpi. She hid him, baptized him, and raised him as a Catholic child for four years to save his life. Foxman lost 14 members of his extended family in the Holocaust. Luckily, his parents survived and reunited with him after the war. Eventually, the family immigrated to the United States. Those early experiences profoundly shaped his lifelong commitment to combating antisemitism and defending human dignity.

Throughout his career, Foxman often spoke about the dangers of hatred and about the consequences of indifference.

“I think it’s important to know who’s a racist and who’s a bigot and who’s an antisemite,” Foxman said in testimony preserved in our collection. “But the other part is, you gotta get good people to stand up and say no.”

After immigrating to the United States, Foxman earned degrees from the City College of New York and New York University School of Law before beginning what would become a nearly 50-year career with the Anti-Defamation League.

Foxman joined the Anti-Defamation League in 1965 and became national director in 1987, serving until 2015. Under his leadership, the organization expanded internationally and became a leading voice on antisemitism, Holocaust remembrance, extremism, religious freedom, and human rights. The ADL also broadened its focus to address extremism, white supremacy, bias, and discrimination beyond the Jewish community.

Over nearly five decades, Foxman became one of the most recognizable and influential advocates in Jewish public life. He advised world leaders, spoke out against hate, and helped shape the public’s understanding of antisemitism in both historical and contemporary contexts. His voice became one of the defining voices confronting antisemitism in modern American life. His leadership helped establish the ADL as a global force in the fight against hate.

Partnership in Holocaust Education

Foxman’s legacy is closely connected to the USC Shoah Foundation through his longstanding commitment to Holocaust education and remembrance.

In 2005, we partnered with the Anti-Defamation League and Yad Vashem to launch Echoes & Reflections. This landmark Holocaust education program brings testimony and historical scholarship into classrooms across the United States. The program has reached hundreds of thousands of educators and millions of students.

“The legacy for me is to teach that an individual can make a difference.”

—Abraham H. Foxman

At the Echoes & Reflections launch, Foxman spoke about the emotional weight of Holocaust remembrance and the vital role of Holocaust education in shaping future generations.

“One of the saddest parts of those who perished and more so of the survivors,” he said, “was that feeling that they were alone, that nobody cared, that nobody knew, and probably more hauntingly painful — that nobody will ever remember.”

For Foxman, Holocaust education was never solely about documenting evil. It was about understanding the capacity for human choice.

“To me, the most important [lesson] to be taught is not the evil,” he said at the program’s launch. “We see how low humankind can sink every single day. The legacy for me is to teach that an individual can make a difference.”

Throughout his life, Foxman returned to the belief that ordinary individuals possess the ability — and responsibility — to resist hatred, defend others, and act with moral courage.

“If you can take this instrument, this tool, and at the end of the day have the student understand that it is in their power to say no to evil, to stand up and say no to an ethnic joke, to intimidation,” he reflected, “then the legacy will continue.”

A Lasting Legacy

Throughout his life, Foxman served as a powerful public witness to the fragility of democracy and the importance of memory. He deeply valued testimony, education, and public engagement in combating hatred and preserving human dignity.

His voice shaped conversations about antisemitism for generations, but his legacy reaches beyond advocacy alone. He challenged individuals and institutions alike to move beyond remembrance toward responsibility.

We are honored to have been part of that work through decades of partnership, collaboration, and a shared commitment to Holocaust education.

We remember Abe Foxman in gratitude: as a survivor, a leader, a partner, and a moral voice whose life embodied the enduring power of memory and action.

He is survived by his wife, Golda Bauman, two children, Michelle and Ariel, and four grandchildren. May his memory be a blessing.

Watch Abe's full testimony in the Visual History Archive.