[7] His father, who was Jewish and escaped the Nazi regime in 1938, was a World War II veteran of the North African and European Theaters.

In 1984, he left the Department of Justice to work as a corporate litigator with the Manhattan law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and then as General Counsel of the World Jewish Congress.

OSI’s success is due in large measure to Mr. Rosenbaum’s leadership and personal dedication to holding Nazi perpetrators accountable.

"[20] In an early television appearance in Britain, in 1987 Rosenbaum joined the After Dark discussion programme alongside Neal Ascherson, Gena Turgel, Philippe Daudy and Paul Oestreicher to debate Jacques Vergès, Klaus Barbie's defense attorney.

The U.S. Justice Department Nazi-hunter character in Jodi Picoult's 2013 novel The Storyteller (which reached #1 on The New York Times fiction bestseller list),[21] about the pursuit of an alleged Nazi war criminal in New England, was based loosely on Rosenbaum.

Cases investigated and prosecuted under Rosenbaum's direction have resulted in deportations to Europe of Nazi perpetrators such as John Demjanjuk, subsequently convicted there of participation in tens of thousands of Holocaust murders.

The award was established in 2011 and recognizes "internationally prominent individuals whose actions embody the Museum’s vision of a world where people confront hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity."

The award was accepted on behalf of the office "by former OSI Director Eli Rosenbaum, under whose leadership the majority of the unit’s prosecution successes were achieved.

Rosenbaum was tasked with coordinating efforts throughout the federal government to hold accountable those responsible for committing war crimes in Ukraine.

The team will also support the Justice Department's ongoing investigation of potential war crimes over which the United States has jurisdiction, including the wounding and killing of American journalists covering the Russian invasion.

"[9] On September 4, 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conferred on Rosenbaum Ukraine's Order of Merit, awarding the title Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of Merit, for support that he rendered to Ukraine’s pursuit of justice in the wake of Russian Federation aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed during and after its 2022 invasion.