Alumni brothers inspire international research

May 2009

A generous travel scholarship, funded by alumni Dr Henry Pinskier (MBBS 1985) and Dr Nathan Pinskier (MBBS 1983), is giving students the opportunity to complete an internship as part of their masters degree at Monash University.

The brothers established the Pinskier Memorial Holocaust and Genocide Studies Scholarship in 2007 in memory of their late father Leizor Pinskier, a Holocaust survivor. Each year, the scholarship gives a Holocaust and Genocide Studies student the chance to pursue their research overseas.

“We grew up in a social democratic household where our father had strong core values around human rights. Dad survived the Holocaust but his family were wiped out. He came to Australia from Poland determined to rebuild his life but he never lost his core values: his human values; his social values,” said Henry.

“It’s great to be able to honour our father’s memory by supporting a scholarship based around an investigation and understanding of human rights issues around the world. It’s something we thought he would have wanted himself.”

With the support of the scholarship Monash students, like Naomi Frauenfelder (pictured), can conduct valuable international research.

“The scholarship allowed me to undertake a three-week internship in Rwanda, the rewards of which will never fade,” said Ms Frauenfelder, the 2008 scholarship recipient.

“I worked as an assistant on a documentary that took Rwandan genocide survivors to Germany to look at the process of Holocaust commemoration. The project was vital in portraying genocide in the way Rwandans see it, as opposed to the way large Western production houses project it.”

The Pinskiers take a broad view of philanthropy:

“Philanthropy is essentially about giving back to the community. It doesn’t have to be financial. It can be in kind. It’s about sharing your experiences and your wisdom for the broader benefit of the community,” said Nathan.

“The scholarship is a small contribution but it just allows an opportunity for someone to gain knowledge and expertise in a particular discipline, and to be able to share that with other members of the community.”