Justus Rosenberg was born in Gdansk, Poland in 1921. When the Nazis rose to power, he moved to France, where he joined an extralegal French-American network that helped to bring anti-fascist intellectuals and artists from Vichy, France to the United States. He subsequently served with the French Resistance and then the United States Army. For his wartime service, Rosenberg received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. For the last 70 years, he has taught at American universities, and is currently a professor emeritus of languages and literature at Bard College. He is the cofounder of the Justus & Karin Rosenberg Foundation, which works to combat antisemitism.