He’d retreat to his basement, surrounded by thousands of books on the Holocaust. He’d return from Europe with photos of cemeteries.
The lessons of relatives who were killed and parents who lived were so striking, he’d make sure his passport was at hand if he ever needed to flee.
Yet Isaiah Kuperstein's laugh thundered, his eyes smiled, his arms delivered bear hugs, his lips brought words of hope. As much as he was marked by humanity’s darkness, he emanated light.
At work, he was the encyclopedic Holocaust scholar who helped transform how children were taught a subject many thought too gruesome to broach.