Lemkin Family Files Complaint Against Genocide Prevention Institute Over Use of Name

The family of Raphael Lemkin has filed a formal complaint with Pennsylvania officials and state regulators alongside the European Jewish Association regarding the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish jurist, coined the term "genocide" after losing nearly his entire family in the Holocaust.

He worked to create legal frameworks to prevent such crimes. The family argues the institute has appropriated his name and legacy to support positions that oppose his views as a committed Zionist. The complaint states the matter involves the theft and weaponization of a Holocaust survivor's legacy against his own people.

It was filed in response to the institute's statements accusing Israel of genocide after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, which the family describes as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. A relative named Joseph Lemkin said his teenage son discovered the institute's social media posts, which included warnings of "trans genocide" and equivocation following the Oct.

7 attacks. The relative stated the organization functions as an agenda-driven operation rather than a neutral academic body. The institute's website offers merchandise featuring political symbols, including Palestinian flag paraphernalia, alongside quotes attributed to Lemkin.

The family and the European Jewish Association argue this creates the impression of endorsement by Lemkin.

The complaint raises questions about whether a nonprofit can use the name of a historical figure without authorization when that use suggests endorsement. It also asks whether posthumous rights of publicity apply to figures like Lemkin whose legacy holds moral significance.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin of the European Jewish Association joined the legal effort. The group states the institute pretends to be academic while spreading lies about Israel and contributing to rising antisemitism on campuses and social media. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, stated that the organization accuses the Jewish state of the crime Lemkin defined to describe Jewish destruction.

The statement described this as desecrating his legacy. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman told the Post the Philadelphia-based group stole the name of a figure in genocidal studies expressly against the family's wishes to promote its views. The complaint distinguishes between protected free speech and the appropriation of a name to borrow authority from someone who cannot consent.

Lemkin's family seeks to prevent his name from being used for causes they say contradict everything he stood for. com reported.