"Americans and the Holocaust", a new special exhibition at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Holocaust history raises difficult questions: How could the Holocaust have happened in 20th-century Europe? What could Europeans have done to stop the rise of Nazism in Germany and the murder of six million European Jews?
Questions also must be asked of the international community, including the United States. What did the U.S. government and the American people know about the threats posed by Nazi Germany? What did the international community—including the United States—do in the face of the Nazi threat? And when?
Americans and the Holocaust, a new exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, examines the motives, pressures, and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war, and genocide. It takes a broad look at the American media, popular culture, and politics, and considers how public opinion shaped Americans’ response to Nazism and to Jewish refugees attempting to flee Europe. It asks what more the U.S. government could have done for victims of Nazism, and explores average Americans’ efforts to help Jews before and during the Holocaust.
By examining this new exhibition, participants have the opportunity to learn from our history and consider what it can teach us about our actions today.
Two experts from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Gretchen Skidmore, the director of education initiatives, and Daniel Greene, historian and exhibition curator, bring us behind the scenes during their conversation about Americans and the Holocaust. Participants will be invited to experience the exhibition after-hours.
Note: Check-in starting at 6 p.m. at the museum’s 15th Street entrance.
