Miles Lerman helped found the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and for three decades was a vital contributor to its success. The first chairman of the museum’s governing council and its chairman emeritus, Lerman died Jan. 22 at his home in Philadelphia. He was 88.
A Holocaust survivor and partisan fighter during World War II, Lerman was involved with the Holocaust museum almost from its inception.
President Carter appointed him to an advisory board of the president’s Commission on the Holocaust, which recommended creating the museum in Washington. Lerman was subsequently appointed to the governing council by three American presidents and served for a total of 23 years. He was the council chairman when the museum opened in 1993, and served until early 2000.
Lerman is credited with leading early fundraising efforts and negotiating international agreements that helped the museum acquire artifacts for its permanent exhibition.
Lerman was born in Tomashov, Poland. In 1942 he escaped from a slave labor camp after killing his guards with a shovel. He was liberated by the Soviet army in June 1944. He and his wife, Chris, also a survivor, immigrated to the United States in 1947. He became successful in the home heating oil business in New Jersey.
Lerman is survived by his wife, two children, five grandchildren, six great-grandhildren, and a brother. A funeral service was held Jan. 31 in Philadelphia.