A researcher at an American university is credited with having been the one to discover who kept Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau alive during the Nazi Holocaust. Researcher Kenneth Waltzer of Michigan State University revealed that Fyodor Mikhalitshenko was responsible for saving then eight-year-old Yisrael Meir Lau's life in the Buchenwald concentration camp. The child later grew up to become Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi.
The following video address by Waltzer was presented at an event honoring Rabbi Lau's savior.