Committee Members

Natalie Belsky is Assistant Professor of History at University of Minnesota Duluth. Her areas of specialization include Russian history, East European Jewish History, Modern European history, and the history of the Holocaust. She is passionate about promoting Holocaust study and education in our community.

Leonore Baeumler is a Co-Founder of the committee, and wife to namesake, Robert Baeumler. Leonore still works with the committee, along with her son, Robert Baeumler.

Cindy Christian is the Program Director of the UMD Royal D. Alworth, Jr. Institute for International Studies.  She holds a PhD in Political Science from Binghamton University in New York.  In fact, her education is from public institutions in New York State from kindergarten to PhD.  Her areas of interest and teaching include international relations, international political economy, international law, global human rights, Latin American politics, and women and politics. 

Associate Professor of German Studies at UMD. 

Tom Isbell is a Professor Emeritus of Theatre. He directed and co-write Dear Finder, a play about the Holocaust that has been produced throughout the country. More recently, he is the author of The Prey, The Capture, and The Release, a Young Adult trilogy published by HarperCollins.

Matt Rosendahl is director of the Kathryn A. Martin Library where he is responsible for all library programs, services, and collections, including the Archives & Special Collections which house many records and ephemera of the Baeumler-Kaplan Holocaust Commemoration Committee.

Dr. Christina Matzen teaches modern European history at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. They specialize in the histories of Germany, the Holocaust, gender, and incarceration. Broadly speaking, Matzen’s work is inspired by genocide education and democratizing access to higher learning.

Fred Friedman has been an attorney since 1972, a public defender in Minnesota since February 1, 1973, and a professor since 1975. In 2013 he was presented with the prestigious Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL) Lifetime Achievement Award.

Brenna Duffy is a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth, studying History and Social Studies Education. Passionate about history and education, Brenna joined the committee in January 2023 as the student representative, and outreach coordinator.