Menachem Kaiser is a Canadian writer. He received the 2022

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is an annual prize awarded to an outstanding literary work of Jewish interest by an emerging writer. Previously administered by the Jewish Book Council, it is now given in association with the National Libr ...

for his book ''Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure''.

Biography

Kaiser grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 2009. He then received an MFA from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and was a

Fulbright Fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to Lithuania. As part of his Fulbright grant, he taught at

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

and created the Vilnius Ghetto Project, an interactive map of the

Vilna Ghetto The Vilna Ghetto was a World War II Jewish ghetto established and operated by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the modern country of Lithuania, at the time part of the Nazi-administered Reichskommissariat Ostland. During the approximat ...

which allows users to explore the streets and buildings of the former ghetto from the perspective of its former residents. Kaiser's grandfather, Maier Menachem Kajzer, was a Jew born in Poland who survived

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and spent years trying to reclaim his family's apartment building in Sosnowiec. Kaiser documented his journey of trying to reclaim his family's property in Poland and discovering his family's surprising connections to the land in the book ''Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure,'' which won the 2022 Sami Rohr Prize''.'' Among his discoveries were that, his grandfather's first cousin, Abraham Kajzer, was the author of a Holocaust memoir, “Za Drutami Śmierci,” which in part detailed his time spent constructing the

Project Riese Riese (; German for "giant") was the code name for a construction project of Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1945. It consisted of seven underground structures in the Owl Mountains and Książ Castle in Lower Silesia, which was then Nazi Germany a ...

where many suspect treasure looted during the Holocaust was hidden and became popular among Polish treasure hunters. In ''Plunders,'' Kaiser teams up with a group of such treasure hunters in an effort to learn more about his own family history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Menachem Living people Jewish Canadian writers Columbia University School of General Studies alumni University of Michigan alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Writers from Toronto