Jerry Elman is an American author, educator, and former business owner whose work focuses on Holocaust remembrance, Jewish history, and the ethical responsibilities of individuals, institutions, and communities. He is the author of Miracles Through Hell (2022), a memoir that traces his parents’ survival of the Holocaust and the lasting impact of trauma across generations.
Born in Syracuse, New York, Jerry moved to the Rochester area in 1972 to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and later an MBA in business management. He has lived in the Rochester region ever since.
Jerry is a second-generation Holocaust survivor. His parents, both from Poland, survived Nazi persecution but rarely spoke about their experiences. In 1967, he traveled to Israel for his Bar Mitzvah as part of a reunion of Holocaust survivors from his parents’ hometowns—an experience that quietly shaped his understanding of Jewish history, survival, and memory long before he began writing.
Professionally, Jerry spent 26 years at Eastman Kodak Company as an engineer and technical manager before leaving during a period of corporate restructuring. In 2007, he purchased Schoen Place Auto, an automotive repair business in the Rochester area. After the 2008 financial crisis, he rebuilt the business around a model centered on ethics, transparency, and trust. Under his leadership, the business became nationally recognized for ethical practices, earning the Rochester Business Ethics Award in 2010 and the Ratchet+Wrench All-Star Executive Award in 2015.
Jerry’s commitment to ethical leadership extended beyond his own business into long-standing nonprofit and community service. He has served on the boards of the Rochester Women’s Network and the Rochester chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, and was President of the Pittsford, New York Rotary Club. He also served as Board President of RESOLVE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to intervening in and preventing domestic violence and abuse, and as a board member of the Rochester Business Ethics Foundation.
Within the Jewish community, Jerry served on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester and later as a board member and President of Temple Sinai in Rochester, New York. Over time, his experiences in Jewish institutional leadership contributed to a growing sense of disconnect and disappointment with organized Jewish organizations—particularly around issues of openness, internal accountability, and engagement with difficult or dissenting perspectives. While remaining deeply committed to Jewish history, memory, and ethical responsibility, Jerry ultimately chose to pursue his writing, education, and advocacy work independently of formal Jewish institutions.
Jerry’s writing and public education work grew directly out of his effort to understand his family’s history and the broader patterns of silence, trauma, and moral failure that surround it. Miracles Through Hell explores not only survival during the Holocaust, but what it means to carry that legacy forward as a second-generation survivor.
In addition to writing, Jerry speaks to libraries, schools, community groups, and civic organizations, addressing Holocaust history, Jewish identity, and contemporary forms of antisemitism. His work is aimed at broad audiences and emphasizes historical accuracy, ethical responsibility, and the consequences of indifference.
Jerry is also active in regional community leadership. He serves as board president of the Little Finger Lakes Center, where he works on regional identity-building, placemaking, and collaborative initiatives across the Little Finger Lakes region of New York.
Waterview Books
Waterview Books publishes Elman’s work. The imprint focuses on historically grounded nonfiction, memoir, and educational works that challenge silence, distortion, and forgotten history.
Publications
Echoes of History (forthcoming)
Miracles Through Hell (2022)