Who was Michele Singer Reiner’s mom Nicole Silberkleit? USC Shoah Foundation pays tribute to Rob Reiner’s wife, daughter of Holocaust survivor

After the passing of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, many have paid tribute to the couple, who were married for 36 years. Days after their demise, USC Shoah Foundation also remembered the couple in a heartfelt Instagram post. 

The organization shared footage of Holocaust testimony of Michele Singer’s mother, Nicole Silberkleit (née Bernheim). The interview, which was shot on November 21, 1994, captures the late photographer-turned-film producer getting emotional as she says: 

“My mother is the most incredible person. She’s very strong. I can’t talk…”

Michele Singer Reiner is embraced by her mother, who was a Holocaust survivor. Nicole Silberkleit was born on December 11, 1926, in Strasbourg, France. According to The Guardian, she was 17 when the French police rounded her up with other Jews in the city of Nice in 1944. 

Nicole Bernheim and her family were grouped with others into railway cattle cars and were transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. USC Shoah Foundation notes that she also survived Drancy and Ravensbruck concentration camps and was liberated by Soviet Armed Forces. 

Nicole’s grandson and Michele Singer Reiner’s son, Jake, remembered his maternal grandma and her family in a June 2023 post. He shared the pictures of memorials of the Bernheim Family in their hometown of Strasbourg and wrote: 

“My grandmother’s will to live is the reason I am alive. Today, we honored her, Nicole Bernheim, as a part of the Stolperstein project, which aims to commemorate victims of Nazi extermination or persecution by placing brass-covered concrete cubes at their last place of residency.” 

Jake Reiner stated that his grandmother survived the Holocaust, but her family, including her father Jacques, her mother Suzzane, and her brother Gaston, were killed at Auschwitz. Nicole Silberkleit died in 2003 in New York City at the age of 76. 

USC Shoah Foundation remembers Michele Singer Reiner by sharing a clip of her mother praising her children

In a video shared by the USC Shoah Foundation, Michele is seen sitting beside her mother, reflecting on her Holocaust testimony. The caption pays tribute to the late film producer and her husband, Rob Reiner: 

“We remember film producer Michele Singer Reiner and director Rob Reiner, friends of the USC Shoah Foundation. Michele’s mother, Holocaust survivor Nicole Silberkleit, recorded her testimony with us in our founding year of 1994. She was one of the first 300 survivors to do so.”

In the clip, Nicole Silberkleit consoles her daughter, who got emotional reacting to her Holocaust testimony. Silberkleit praises her children when the interviewer asks about them: 

“Well, I think they’re the greatest, naturally, like any mother. But they are. They’re very understanding, loving, affectionate. I’m very proud of them because they did very well on their own. They all got careers and did well. And I think they’re terrific children.”

The clip concludes with a text honoring the late film producer:

“In honor of Michele Singer Reiner. May her memory be a blessing.” 

USC Shoah Foundation also recounted Nicole Silberkleit’s testimony in the caption. The late Holocaust survivor had spoken about her upbringing in France, her survival at various concentration camps, her liberation, and her children. The caption concludes: 

“May Rob, Michele, and Nicole’s memories be a blessing.” 

Michele Singer and Rob Reiner were found dead at their LA home on Sunday

The couple’s deceased bodies were discovered on December 14 at their residence in Los Angeles’ Brentwood area. Michele and Rob’s daughter, Romy, found them with stab wounds and informed the first responders. LAPD confirmed that the pair’s son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on suspicion of murder. 

According to People, he is being held without bail, while the authorities have yet to announce the charges. TMZ reported, citing a Reiner family source, that Nick had a heated argument with his father at a Christmas party organized by Conan O'Brien on Saturday, December 13.