On March 30, the U.S. Senate officially confirmed Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt’s nomination to become the Biden administration’s special envoy to combat and monitor antisemitism. 

A wide range of Jewish groups had been lobbying the Senate to swiftly confirm Lipstadt pointing to her lofty qualifications and arguing that leaving the position open was significantly hampering the US’s ability to address a growing wave of antisemitism. Pressure to hold a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee rose following the January standoff at a synagogue in Colleyville, TX, where a gunman held four worshippers hostage.

Lipstadt, 75, is best known for her appearance in a landmark British legal case in which she fought a libel suit brought by Holocaust denier David Irving. That experienced was depicted in the Hollywood feature film “Denial,” with Rachel Weisz playing the part of Deborah Lipstadt.

She served most recently as the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust studies at Emory University in Atlanta, where she was the founding director of the Institute for Jewish Studies. She has also served in several roles at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and was asked by President George W. Bush to represent the U.S. at the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Lipstadt’s new position carries the rank of ambassador.