The grandson of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel from the USSR, Dr. Pilnik is the Director of the Emil and Jenny A. Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Prior to becoming the Fish Center's founding Director in 2020, he was the Executive Director of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC) in Milwaukee. His forthcoming book, The Ravine of Memory: Babyn Yar between the Holocaust and the Great Patriotic War (Purdue University Press), is set to release in 2025.