2024 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration

Jan 26, 2024 | Today the Museum marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a special event featuring Museum Chairman Stuart Eizenstat and the ambassadors of Israel, Poland, France and Germany, as well as the Austrian Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution. Ambassador Eizenstat expressed alarm about the dangerous eruption in antisemitism worldwide and the case before the International Court of Justice.

The event included remarks by Auschwitz survivor Irene Weiss, a memorial candle-lighting, a reading of victim’s names, and opportunities for our visiting public to engage with survivors at various places throughout the Museum building.

2023 First Person with Holocaust Survivor George Pick

Nov 15, 2023 | The current surge in antisemitic violence and the unfolding of world events underscore the importance of the Museum’s work to share testimonies from Holocaust survivors. They are our most powerful teachers about the consequences of unchecked antisemitism.

Holocaust survivor George Pick remembers coming upon a group of uniformed Hungarian men chanting “death to the Jews” while on vacation with his family in 1943 in the scenic Mátra Mountains. By March 1944, life back home in Budapest had changed forever—as Germany occupied Hungary, and then local officials began requiring Jews to live in crowded buildings, under horrible conditions. George’s family managed to stay alive, even as authorities started deporting Jews or killing them outright.

Watch to learn how young George used his wits and narrowly escaped dying in a massacre of Jewish children along the Danube River.

Hear Holocaust survivor George Pick’s experiences in his own words, which aired on November 15, 2023. First Person is a monthly, hour-long discussion with a Holocaust survivor that is made possible through generous support from the Louis Franklin Smith Foundation.

European Antisemitism from Its Origins to the Holocaust

Jan 10, 2022 | This 13-minute film introduces the history of antisemitism. The term was coined in the 19th century and refers to prejudice against or hatred of Jews. But as this film shows, anti-Jewish hostility goes back many centuries—to the era of early Christianity and the Middle Ages. As a religious minority, Jews in Christian-dominant Europe were consistently persecuted as “outsiders.” They became scapegoats and victims of targeted violence in times of severe hardship and economic and political change.

Anti-Jewish prejudices endured and took on new forms as western societies became more secular in the 19th century, and Jews gained more rights and opportunities. Some politicians used “the Jews” as scapegoats in their attempts to gain support from people left behind by economic change. Ultra-nationalists, seeking ethnically homogeneous nations, saw Jews as biologically “foreign”—a different “race.” Antisemites also hatched conspiracy theories about “Jewish power” and that, after World War I and the Russian Revolution, linked Jews to Communism.

These radical strands of racial antisemitism, tied to ethnic nationalism and conspiracy myths, became core elements of Nazi ideology as the party was forming in the aftermath of World War I. After the Nazis took power in 1933, these ideas became state policy and underpinned anti-Jewish laws and decrees. Nazi propaganda portrayed Germany’s Jews as an “alien,” biological threat to the survival of the German people. During World War II, this racial antisemitism motivated Nazi policy that evolved into mass murder and genocide. Nazi officials also exploited longstanding traditional prejudices towards Jews in the countries they conquered to gain help from non-Germans to locate, round up, deport, and kill Jews.

Pride Month: Defying the Nazi Campaign to Control Sexuality

Jun 1, 2023 | Berlin was known as the gay capital of the world until Nazis began terrorizing LGBTQ+ people and shut down the Eldorado Club in 1933. But love persisted in spite of Nazi persecution. Repeated arrests and beatings couldn’t crush the bond between Jewish dancer Margot Holzmann Liu and her partner, Marta Halusa. The inhumane conditions at the Ravensbrück concentration camp didn’t prevent prisoners Nelly Mousset-Vos and Nadine Hwang from beginning their lifelong romance. Join us as we commemorate Pride Month with their legacies of resilience and rebellion during Nazi rule.

Please note that the man being interviewed has the same name as my pseudonym, Mark Alexander. This is purely coincidental. I am not he. – Mark Alexander

Pride Month 2021: Defying Nazi Persecution | Reupload

Jul 6, 2021 | It was a daring and dangerous mission. To try to protect the true identities of Jews and resistance fighters hiding behind false ID cards, members of a Dutch resistance group knew they had to destroy the originals. Dressed as policemen, they entered the Amsterdam Registry and set off explosions that burned 800,000 identity cards. During this digital program, Museum experts told the stories of Frieda Belinfante, one of Europe’s first female conductors and a lesbian, and painter Willem Arondeus, a gay man and a leader of this group of artists turned resisters.

Speaker
Dr. Klaus Mueller, European Representative, International Archival Programs, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Pride Month 2021: Defying Nazi Persecution

Jul 6, 2021 | It was a daring and dangerous mission. To try to protect the true identities of Jews and resistance fighters hiding behind false ID cards, members of a Dutch resistance group knew they had to destroy the originals. Dressed as policemen, they entered the Amsterdam Registry and set off explosions that burned 800,000 identity cards. During this digital program, Museum experts told the stories of Frieda Belinfante, one of Europe’s first female conductors and a lesbian, and painter Willem Arondeus, a gay man and a leader of this group of artists turned resisters.

Speaker
Dr. Klaus Mueller, European Representative, International Archival Programs, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Documenting Nazi Persecution of Gays: Josef Kohout/Wilhelm Kroepfl Collection | Curators Corner #13

an 14, 2013 | In 1994, the Museum acquired the unique collection of Josef Kohout. More widely known as Heinz Heger, Kohout recorded his experiences in The Men with the Pink Triangle, the first published account of a gay survivor of the Nazi camps. Dr. Klaus Müller, the Museum's Representative for Europe, shares his story.

The Nazi Persecution of Gay People | 2020 | Reupload

Jun 3, 2020 | Before the Nazis came to power, Berlin was home to a vibrant gay community. Within weeks of their rise in March 1933, the Nazis drove this population underground and waged a violent campaign against homosexuality. Over the next 12 years, more than 100,000 men were arrested for violating Germany's law against "unnatural indecency among men.” During this time, proof was often not required to convict an individual. Some were sent to concentration camps and subjected to hard labor, cruelty, and even medical experiments aimed at “curing” them.

What Is Antisemitism?

Jun 29, 2022 Antisemitism means prejudice against or hatred of Jews. In the United States, antisemitic incidents hit an all-time high in 2021. Hatred of Jews can take many forms, including violent attacks. It also appears in daily life. Do you know how to recognize it online, in social media, or in conversation?

The White Rose: Young Germans Who Took On the Nazis

Feb 22, 2022 • In a matter of hours, they were tried, convicted, and beheaded for the crime of treason. These young friends had dared to oppose the Nazi regime—and were caught in a crucial moment, when the Nazis feared their grip on the public was slipping.

In urgent, pleading messages, copied and mailed to thousands of Germans, the members of the “White Rose” resistance group begged their fellow citizens to rise up. Their voices went unheard then, but today the group is a symbol of righteous rebellion. On this anniversary of the execution of three members, learn their story.

Guest: Rebecca Erbelding, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Host: Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum/font>