Holocaust survivor and international judge Theodor Meron oversaw the world’s first genocide trials and has advised the ICC on crimes in Israel and Gaza. Meron’s extraordinary life has been shaped by both atrocity and accountability. As a child he endured ghettos and camps, losing much of his family, before finding refuge in British Palestine. Decades later he would help shape the modern architecture of international criminal law; presiding over landmark UN war crimes tribunals and advising the International Criminal Court on cases from the Balkans to Ukraine and the Middle East. Erudite, courageous and quietly compelling, Meron’s story is a powerful meditation on survival, moral responsibility and the fragile institutions designed to uphold justice in an increasingly turbulent world. The founding institutions of international justice today face unprecedented threats. Meron’s life story could not be a better timed reminder of the importance of accountability.