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Credit: Courtesy of Dreamworks
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Director Steven Spielberg, whose acclaimed film “Schindler’s List” led him to establish a foundation to record and archive the stories of thousands of Holocaust survivors, will receive the Stephen E. Ambrose Oral History Award from The Rutgers Living History Society.
Spielberg’s father, Arnold Spielberg, will accept the award on his son’s behalf at a joint meeting of The Rutgers Living History Society and The Colonel Henry Rutgers Society Friday, May 12, at 10 a.m. at Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus. The award, named for the late historian Stephen E. Ambrose, an authority on World War II, recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the practice of oral history.
“Steven Spielberg is a great storyteller,” said Tom Kindre, president of The Rutgers Living History Society. “His stories have entertained and enlightened us for many years. By founding the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, Steven Spielberg has made sure that tens of thousands of stories – all important stories – about one of humanity’s darkest periods are seen and heard.”
“I am deeply honored to receive this award named for my friend and teacher, Stephen Ambrose,” Spielberg said. “I regret that my schedule prevents me from coming to Rutgers, the great state university of New Jersey, to accept it. But I am thrilled that my dad, Arnold Spielberg, and my friend and colleague, Doug Greenberg, will be there to join in celebrating the accomplishments of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute and The Rutgers Oral History Archives.”
Several of Spielberg’s films have dealt with historical subjects, and “Schindler’s List,” based on Thomas Keneally’s historical novel, ultimately led to the beginning of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, formerly the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. The book and film tell the story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who used his money and connections with the Nazi hierarchy in Poland to save the lives of more than 1,100 Jews.
Arnold Spielberg, a retired engineer who was involved with the early development of computers, served with the U.S. Army Air Force in the Pacific theater during World War II. He has agreed to be interviewed for The Rutgers Oral History Archives. The archives, which hold the personal stories of more than 580 people with a Rutgers or New Jersey connection who participated in or lived through World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War or the Cold War, is headquartered at Rutgers in New Brunswick. To date, 400 of the interviews are accessible through the archives’ Web site, oralhistory.rutgers.edu. The Rutgers Living History Society consists of participants in the archives. The Colonel Henry Rutgers Society was established in 1985 to recognize those who include Rutgers in their estate plans.
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