THE SUITCASE: ONE FAMILY’S STORY OF SURVIVAL

Sunday, September 10 at 2:30 pm

Join Terry Swartzberg, a leading figure in the Stolpersteine (stumbling stone) movement, as he shares the importance of remembering Jewish victims of the Holocaust outside of their last freely chosen address throughout Europe. Refreshments will be served.

Terry Swartzberg is a spokesperson for the Stolpersteine movement and head of the group’s Munich chapter. A former public affairs campaigner and journalist, Terry’s work today helps young people understand Jewish life and provides innovative ways to commemorate the Holocaust.

Join us for an exclusive member event with bestselling author Joshua M. Green. Joshua will speak about his book Unstoppable, which tells the incredible true story of Siggi B. Wilzig, who survived Auschwitz, immigrated to the United States, and went on to build an empire in oil and banking. A leader in Jewish philanthropy, Siggi’s remarkable life is a testament to the power of grit, determination, and courage. Joshua will share Siggi’s story at The Zekelman Holocaust Center at 1:00 PM on Sunday, May 21. The presentation by Joshua M. Greene will be followed by a dessert reception and book signing.

This event is to thank our members for their generous support, which enables us to teach the lessons of the Holocaust and the importance of standing up to hatred and antisemitism.

Please join us at The Zekelman Holocaust Center or online at www.holocaustcenter.org for a commemoration featuring stirring readings, music and a candle-lighting ceremony.

This year’s program will be led by local clergy Rabbi Aaron Bergman and Hazzan Daniel Gross of Adat Shalom Synagogue. Survivors and children of survivors from the Detroit area community will light memorial candles, and community members will read selected poems that express communal grief for the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Following the event, all who wish to light a memorial candle are invited to do so at the Center’s Eternal Flame.

Free admission and valet parking.

Presented in Cooperation with
C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust –Survivors Association In Michigan
Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan
Michigan Jewish Conference
Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life
The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

We recently welcomed award-winning editorial cartoonist Phil Hands for “Cartoons as Commentary: Reflecting on the Art of Erich Lichtblau-Leskly.” Phil analyzed many of the pieces that Erich created while imprisoned in the Theresienstadt ghetto and discussed how they align with modern-day editorial cartooning. We are grateful to those who attended the Special Exhibit gallery walk and program in person

Human testimony of the Holocaust is often reflected through the lens of men and their experiences. On International Women’s Day, we will illuminate the untold stories of women during the Holocaust and acknowledge that their experiences were different because they were women. Refreshments will be served.

Katie Chaka Parks is a Ph.D Candidate at Wayne State University. Katie’s research addresses the experiences of women during the Holocaust and how they are represented within museums across the country. She is currently the Manager of Adult Education at The HC.

Thank you to our Community Partners: The Wayne State University Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program and the Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program

Why were those responsible for the Holocaust often not prosecuted or even questioned? Filmmaker David Wilkinson’s relentless pursuit to find an answer to this question took him through 10 different countries over two decades. Interviews with countless experts helped to uncover how most Nazi perpetrators walked away untouched by justice.

The film Getting Away with Murder(s) will be available to stream beginning January 27, 2023 on the following platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Roku, Tubi & Xumo.

David Wilkinson is the director, writer, and producer of several acclaimed films including his recent documentary titled Getting Away With Murder(s). In addition to his work as Chairman of Guerilla Films Limited, Wilkinson is a writer for various screenplays and print publications.

Culinary Art Therapist and granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor Julie Ohana will invite viewers into her kitchen. While she makes her grandmother’s recipe for diosh, a traditional Hungarian pastry, Julie will share her passion for food and its ability to help us navigate the healing process.

Julie will be joined by her mother and daughter, highlighting the importance of sharing memories—and recipes—across generations.

Julie Ohana, L.M.S.W., founder of Culinary Art Therapy, has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and in The Washington Post. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she uses cooking as a tool to help others navigate trauma through recipes. Featuring a Special Appearance by popular food blogger and cookbook author Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn.

Click Here for Full Recipe

Thank you to our Community Partner: Oakland Community College Culinary Art Institute.

Join us for a virtual discussion to hear award-winning conductor Murry Sidlin tell the story of Rafael Schächter, an imprisoned conductor who led a creative rebellion in the ghetto concentration camp of Terezin.

Honoring Veterans Day: Legacies of the Holocaust and the U.S. Military

In-Person Event on Friday, November 11
Panel Discussion from 12:00-1:00 PM
Docent-led Museum Tour from 1:00-2:30 PM

Over half a million Jewish Americans served in the military during World War II, and American soldiers played a key role in liberating Jewish survivors from Nazi concentration and death camps. Join The Zekelman Holocaust Center on Veterans Day for a panel discussion on how these legacies have shaped the U.S. military.

We are honored to host local members of the Jewish War Veterans and the Michigan National Guard who will speak about their military experiences and reflect on this important day.

Love, Lies, and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive

Award-winning author Philippe Sands will delve into the life and mysterious death of Baron Otto von Wächter – a devoted Nazi and man on the run. Wächter’s complicated life and years evading justice are pieced together through two decades of family correspondence.

Philippe Sands, K.C., is a human rights lawyer and author of 17 books on international law including The Ratline. In addition to his work as President of English PEN, Sands is a CNN and BBC World Service contributor. He is also Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London.

Thank you to our Community Partners: The Michigan State University Department of History and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel.

Charlotte is an animated drama that tells the true story of Charlotte Salomon (Keira Knightley), a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. But the world around her is changing quickly and dangerously, limiting her options and derailing her dream.

When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she leaves Berlin for the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only the extraordinary will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

Information and tickets are available at www.gffilmfest.com.

A Michigan Perspective on the Latest Documentary from Ken burns, lynn novick and Sarah botstein: ‘The U.S. and the Holocaust’

Join us on Wednesday, September 14, at 7:00 PM for A Michigan Perspective on Ken Burns’ Latest Documentary: “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” The three-part series examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States, and race laws in the American south.

This event will feature clips from the film followed by a discussion with a panel of community leaders. Eli Newman, reporter and producer for Detroit Public Radio Station WDET-FM, will moderate the panel.

“The U.S. and the Holocaust,” a film by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein will air on September 18, 19, and 20 from 8:00 PM-10:00 PM ET on PBS stations nationwide

Thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Public TV,  Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit, and ADL Michigan.

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Author and historian Dr. Rafael Medoff will speak about Rabbi Herschel Schacter, a chaplain whose unit liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald. Schacter was thrust into the role of helping survivors rebuild their shattered lives and serving as their voice to the world.

Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and the author of more than 20 books about the Holocaust, Zionism, and American Jewish history including The Rabbi of Buchenwald. Dr. Medoff has taught at The Ohio State University and
Purchase College of the State University of New York, and is a Fellow of the Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research at Bar-Ilan University.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Quality Kosher Catering.

Virtual cooking class

Becca Gallick-Mitchell will demonstrate how to make her great grandmother Ester Weintraub’s Kopytka (Polish Potato Dumplings) and Mushroom Gravy. While Becca cooks, she will share some stories about her grandmother Mala Dorfman, her grandmother who survived the war, and Ester who perished.

Becca is a third generation Holocaust educator, recipe developer/blogger, and the founder of the InstaGrandma’s Kitchen website and Instagram account. Her inspiring culinary programs bridge generations and cultures while emphasizing the importance of fighting hatred with loving kindness.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

Thank you to our Community Partner: Oakland Community College, Culinary Studies Institute.

Understanding the Crisis in yemen

The war in Yemen, now entering its eighth year, has broken the country and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. What happened, what is happening now, and what can be done about it? Join us for a talk with Yemen expert Dr. Gregory Johnsen, introduced by U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (Michigan’s 3rd district) who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Dr. Gregory Johnsen is the author of The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia and a former member of the UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Yemen. In addition to being the editor of the Yemen Review, Dr. Johnsen is a fellow at both the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

U.S. Representative Peter Meijer           Dr. Greg Johnsen

Thank you to our Community Partners: Yemeni Honorary Consulate in Detroit and the Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children, Michigan State University College of Law.

MUSIC FROM AUSCHWITZ: A CONCERT

Silent for more than 70 years, the voices and stirring melodies of those imprisoned at Auschwitz will be brought to life. A University of Michigan student orchestra, led by conductor Oriol Sans, will present tangos, waltzes, and foxtrots, interspersed with readings of the prisoners’ own words.

The concert will feature musical pieces arranged by Polish political prisoners, who were members of the men’s orchestra in the Auschwitz I camp, for a dance band that played Sunday concerts for the Auschwitz garrison near the camp commandant’s villa. The pieces were recently rediscovered in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PROGRAM BOOKLET

Presented in Cooperation with
C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust –Survivors Association In Michigan
Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan
Michigan Jewish Conference
Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life
The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

“DEFEATING NAZIS IN COURT – THE CHARLOTTESVILLE TRIAL” WITH AMY SPITALNICK

The six triple eight

In February 1945, the Allied Forces were winning WWII and liberating the concentration camps. But the U.S. troops and their families weren’t getting their mail. Enter the only all-black Women’s Army Corps battalion to serve in Europe during WWII, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion or Six Triple Eight. Despite facing racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, the women served with honor, clearing 17 million backlogged letters. They were never fully recognized…until now.

This program is co-presented by Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

75 years of Holocaust Cinema

Wednesday, February 23 at 7:00 PM EST on ZOOM

Learn about Holocaust films from cinema expert Rich Brownstein. There are hundreds, in dozens of languages, from more than 40 countries. They include
drama, melodrama, docudrama, comedy, farce, science fiction, time travel, live-action and animation. Rich Brownstein has lectured at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem since 2014, specializing in the history and pedagogy of Holocaust films. His new book, Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide, was just published by McFarland Press.

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS OF THE VILNA GHETTO: A STORY OF MORAL RESISTANCE

In Vilna, the city Jews called “The Jerusalem of Lithuania,” a group of ghetto inmates risked their lives during World War II to rescue thousands of rare books, documents, and works of art from the Nazis. In an operation that lasted eighteen months, they smuggled the materials past guards and buried them in bunkers. Those members of the group who survived the War returned after Vilna’s liberation and dug up the materials. They eventually smuggled the books across Europe until they reached the United States and Israel. What did they rescue, and why did they do it?

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, author Dr. David E. Fishman will discuss the incredible story he wrote about in The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, and the exhibit based on his book.

LEARNING FROM OUR PARENTS’ PAST TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE

Rabbi Hanoch Teller, globetrotting storyteller extraordinaire and the son of a Holocaust survivor, has lectured before audiences on five continents, in 40 American states and 24 other countries. His presentations – imbued with joy and drama, laughter and pathos – provide a one-of-a-kind experience for listeners young and old. Through stories of personal encounters, and by identifying the failures of bystanders, he portrays the lessons of the Holocaust in relatable ways that empower contemporary audiences. Admission is $10, or free with membership.

The documentary film We Shall Not Die Now explores the tragedy and lessons of the Holocaust and the resilience of its survivors. Filmed through the country of Poland at all of the major camps, landmarks and cities, it features over 25 survivors, liberators and scholars.

Ashton Gleckman is a 21-year-old composer, producer, and filmmaker from Carmel, Indiana. He has released a feature-length documentary film and  five albums, written and directed five short films, composed scores for a number of productions, and has also produced over thirty hours of online video tutorial content.

Zlata Filipovic grew up under one of the longest sieges in modern-day history in her native city of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hear the fascinating story of her wartime childhood, the publication of her diary, and how they led to her current engagement with human rights and storytelling.

Zlata is the author of the international bestseller Zlata’s Diary, the co-editor of Stolen Voices: Young People’s War Diaries form WWI to Iraq, and a documentary filmmaker.

To order your copy of Stolen Voices or Zlata’s Diary from the HMC Billes Museum Shop, please click here.

Thank you to our Community Partner: the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

September 2021 marks the 80^th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, which occurred on September 29-30, 1941. On the evening of September 29 almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly rounded up and shot over two days at Babi Yar, a ravine that was then located on the outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This horrific massacre became a symbol of the Holocaust by bullets, the mass shootings carried out in Eastern Europe by the Nazis.

To observe this anniversary, the Holocaust Memorial Center is honored to rebroadcast the 2019 concert Shostakovich Babi Yar Remembering the Holocaust performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles.  This performance features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) and selections from Charles Davidson’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Presented by the Michigan State University College of Music and The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at MSU, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, the Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit and The Detroit Jewish News.

Generously sponsored by Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, Margie Dunn and Mark Davidoff, Howard J. Gourwitz,  Belle and Julius Harris Visiting Artist Fund established by Lauren Julius Harris, Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Fund in Jewish Arts & Music, Sue and Alan Kaufman, Iris and Stephen Linder, Rebecca and Alan Ross, Elaine and Michael Serling/The Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, Drs. Lou A. and Roy J. Simon, Linn Van Dyne and Mike Knox, Jeff D. Williams, and Andrea L. Wulf.

Dr. Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, College of Social Science, and affiliate of the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

Dr. Kevin Bartig, Associate Professor of Musicology, MSU College of Music

Dr. Amy Simon, William and Audrey Farber Family Chair in Holocaust Studies and European Jewish History; Assistant Professor, James Madison College, Department of History; and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

In 1945 the diary of Polish teenager Rywka Lipszyc was discovered amid the rubble of the recently liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It was written during Rywka’s time in the Łodz ghetto and provides poignant reflections on her life and experiences in the years 1943 and 1944. This presentation explores the historical context within which Rywka’s diary was written – focusing on the organizational structure of the Łodz ghetto and the nature of life there under Nazi rule – while also reflecting on broader themes raised by Rywka’s compelling narrative and on the continuing importance of such first-person accounts in deepening our understanding of victims’ experiences.

Derek Hastings received his PhD in modern European history from the University of Chicago and is currently Associate Professor of History at Oakland University.  He is the author of Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Nationalism in Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018).

Thank you to our Community Partner: Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement, Oakland University

During WWII, a handpicked group of GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission: use special effects to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American troops.  Rick Beyer brings this incredible true story to life.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Detroit VA Health Care System, Yankee Air Museum and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States – Department of Michigan.

After the Nazis murder her family, 12-year-old Sara Guralnik flees to the Ukrainian countryside and assumes the identity of her Christian best friend. She lives by her wits as a farmhouse maid, where one slip of her tongue could mean her life. The award-winning film My Name Is Sara tells the true story of her bravery, strength and survival. Watch it online, on-demand from Thursday, July 15- Sunday, July 18 at holocaustcenter.org. Then join us on July 18 for a discussion with Sara’s son and Executive Producer Mickey Shapiro, Director Steven Oritt and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Congregation Beth Ahm.

Evil Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele was the embodiment of bloodless efficiency and passionate devotion to a grotesque worldview. Author David Marwell will discuss Mengele’s twisted career and his escape to South America.

To order a copy of Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death’ by David Marwell, click here.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State University School of Medicine and Wayne State University College of Nursing.

Learn about the Jews who escaped to India and Iran after 1933. On the margins of the Holocaust and anxious about their families’ fates, they were homeless and stateless, but also oddly privileged as adventurous Europeans in non-western societies. Our speaker, Atina Grossmann, is Professor of History at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Thank you to our Community Partners: India League of America – Michigan and the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

Watch acclaimed French violinist Arnaud Sussmann and Dave Wagner, Program Director and host of WRCJ 90.9 FM discuss his Holocaust-inspired recital. Arnaud regularly graces the world’s stages as a soloist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The special program performed on June 8 for the Holocaust Memorial Center was inspired by his grandfather’s survival of Auschwitz-Birkenau. To honor the memories of those lost, Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Michael Brown performed works of Jewish composers whose lives were directly impacted by WWII, including Robert Dauber, Pavel Haas, and Erwin Schulhoff. Learn more about Sussman’s music and family by clicking the arrow above.

Arnaud’s program pays homage to his grandfather, Jacques Sussmann, who was a Holocaust survivor. Watch the video below to hear Arnaud share his grandfather’s story of surviving Auschwitz.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Hour Detroit Magazine, Detroit Public TV/ WRCJ 90.9 FM and Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies.

After nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. government is engaged in talks with the Taliban as part of an effort to forge a peace settlement and wind down U.S. military commitment. Within Afghanistan, government officials and ordinary citizens are fearful that an American exit could leave a beleaguered population at the mercy of the Taliban. How can the U.S. avoid a repeat of the 1975 Indochina withdrawal, which contributed to the rise of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime? Associate Professor of Public Policy, John D. Ciorciari, will discuss the ways in which governments and ordinary citizens can help reduce the risk of genocide.

For Professor Ciorciari’s suggestions for how you can help and his links to agencies and projects in Afghanistan: Click Here

Thank you to our Community Partners, the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the Donia Human Rights Center at the University of Michigan.

To download a program for the commemoration, click here. 

Presented in cooperation with C.H.A.I.M.-Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan, Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University, Michigan Jewish Conference, Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life, The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization, and The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

As part of the 2021 Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe, thousands of women fought with defiance and dignity to save themselves and others. Be inspired by the courageous choices and words of female leaders in rescue and resistance movements. Our speaker, Dr. Lori Weintrob, is Professor of History and Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center in Staten Island, NY.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan.

Pen and Pistol Program

A virtual program featuring Sarah Megan Thomas, the film’s screenwriter, actor and producer; Craig Gralley, author of Hall of Mirrors – Virginia Hall: America’s Greatest Spy of WWII; and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer in partnership with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from Mean Streets Management.

Synopsis of A Call to Spy: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency to recruit and train an army of female spies to infiltrate Europe and help build the French Resistance against the Nazi regime. Inspired by true events and the stories of Virginia Hall, Vera Atkins and Noor Inayat Khan. Vera Atkins, was Jewish and faced anti-Semitism in London while working for the SOE, British intelligence.

A special thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Jewish Film Festival and Greater Farmington Film Festival.

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism and slavery, what can we learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past? Philosopher and author Susan Neiman and National Public Radio (NPR) 1A host Jenn White will discuss Germany’s effort to atone for the Holocaust and the work that contemporary Americans are doing to try to make amends for our country’s historical wrongdoings.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, and Detroit Public Television.

The Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China, are being persecuted by the Chinese government with incarceration in concentration camps, forced sterilization, mass disappearances, and the destruction of their culture. Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide, discusses the efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable.

Thank you to our community partners: the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children and the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC)

Medical professionals played an integral role in the planning and implementation of Nazi racial policy. Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, senior historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will discuss how medical professionals enforced policies of compulsory sterilization, as well as the “Euthanasia” program. Through these legalized programs, the Nazis murdered 650,000 people and set an important precedent for the Holocaust.

Thank you to our community partner the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

The Soap Myth Play

The Soap Myth virtual discussion

Remembering Kristallnacht: An interview with Henry and Rosie Baum (Monday, Nov. 9)

Krakow, one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in Poland before WWII, is rich in Jewish history. In spite of a resurgence of antisemitism throughout Europe, Krakow’s Jewish community continues to grow and thrive.

Panelists were Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue; Gail Offen, a child of a Shoah survivor from Krakow; and Jessica Katz, 2019 Ralph I. Goldman Fellow for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Author and journalist Helen Epstein discussed her mother’s powerful memoir, the testimony of an incredibly strong young woman who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and survived. Franci Rabinek was a Prague dress designer when the war began. She lied to Dr. Mengele at her Auschwitz selection, saying she was an electrician, an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. Her memoir gives an intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends.

An online Film and Conversation with Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin

Three years ago white supremacists came to Charlottesville chanting neo-Nazi slogans and rallying just outside the city’s only synagogue. Since then, members of Charlottesville’s Jewish community have been on a journey against hate. At times, the journey required self-reflection. At times, it required communal action. But no matter what form it took, Charlottesville’s Jews found that standing up for themselves meant standing up for justice in the broader community.

Documentary short Reawakening recounts their journey. Through interviews with rabbis and congregants, the film explores how the white supremacy they experienced transformed their understanding of themselves and their city — and how it intensified their commitment to racial justice.

Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin served as associate rabbi for Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel from 2016-2020. During her time in Charlottesville she was active in Charlottesville’s interfaith and social justice community. Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz is a former Senior Producer at CNN International covering business and economics. She now works as a writer, director, and producer of documentary shorts for non-profits, often on subjects related to Judaism.

A very special thank you to our program supporters:

World-renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum interviewed Dr. Guy Stern in an online Zoom webinar about Guy’s remarkable life and his new memoir. Born in Germany, Guy was the only one in his family to escape from the Holocaust. He landed in Normandy 3 days after D-Day as a member of a special military intelligence unit and earned a Bronze Star Medal for his work interrogating German prisoners of war. Today, Guy is the HMC’s Director of the Harry and Wanda Zekelman International Institute of the Righteous and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University.

• To purchase Invisible Ink, email andrea.moellering@holocaustcenter.org.

Dr. Stern’s memoir Invisible Ink is published by Wayne State University Press.

A hidden child during the Holocaust, Miriam was smuggled as an infant out of the Srodula ghetto by a righteous gentile couple who adopted her. Her immediate family perished in the Holocaust and Miriam learned that she was Jewish when she was 16 years old.

Yiddish literature grappled with the questions the Holocaust raised for the Jews and the wider world. How did they understand what was happening? What did it mean to be “the chosen people?” Were the promises of the Enlightenment—liberty, equality, fraternity—now at an end for Jews? In this lecture, Dr. Anita Norich discusses a range of Yiddish literary responses to these questions in an online Zoom Webinar.

Thank you to our program supporters: Robin & Leo Eisenberg, Gerald & Betsy (z”l) Loomus, Denise & Peter Rodgers, Shelley & Joel Tauber and the PNC Foundation.

On the 60th anniversary of the the Israeli secret mission to capture the architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, the Holocaust Memorial Center hosted our first Facebook Live event featuring New York Times Best-Selling Author Neal Bascomb and moderated by Multimedia Journalist and former WXYZ TV 7 anchor Stephen Clark.

Click here to view the recording of the event.

The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus hosted its annual community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sun. April 26 at 2 pm. For the first time, the Holocaust Memorial Center’s Yom HaShoah commemoration was hosted online while the museum is closed to the public in accordance with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.

Board member Steven R. Weisberg offered opening remarks, while Rabbi Yonatan Dahlen and Hazzan David Propis of Shaarey Zedek led the commemoration.

As part of this 2020’s Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Click here to see a list of everyone who sent in videos for this special project to perpetuate the memory of the Six Million, and see below to watch the entire program.

Avner Avraham, Shula Bahat and Patrick Gallagher join the Holocaust Memorial Center to kick off the “Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann” exhibit’s last stop in the United States.

Join Terry Swartzberg, a leading figure in the Stolpersteine (stumbling stone) movement, as he shares the importance of remembering Jewish victims of the Holocaust outside of their last freely chosen address throughout Europe. Refreshments will be served.

Terry Swartzberg is a spokesperson for the Stolpersteine movement and head of the group’s Munich chapter. A former public affairs campaigner and journalist, Terry’s work today helps young people understand Jewish life and provides innovative ways to commemorate the Holocaust.

Join us for an exclusive member event with bestselling author Joshua M. Green. Joshua will speak about his book Unstoppable, which tells the incredible true story of Siggi B. Wilzig, who survived Auschwitz, immigrated to the United States, and went on to build an empire in oil and banking. A leader in Jewish philanthropy, Siggi’s remarkable life is a testament to the power of grit, determination, and courage. Joshua will share Siggi’s story at The Zekelman Holocaust Center at 1:00 PM on Sunday, May 21. The presentation by Joshua M. Greene will be followed by a dessert reception and book signing.

This event is to thank our members for their generous support, which enables us to teach the lessons of the Holocaust and the importance of standing up to hatred and antisemitism.

Please join us at The Zekelman Holocaust Center or online at www.holocaustcenter.org for a commemoration featuring stirring readings, music and a candle-lighting ceremony.

This year’s program will be led by local clergy Rabbi Aaron Bergman and Hazzan Daniel Gross of Adat Shalom Synagogue. Survivors and children of survivors from the Detroit area community will light memorial candles, and community members will read selected poems that express communal grief for the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Following the event, all who wish to light a memorial candle are invited to do so at the Center’s Eternal Flame.

Free admission and valet parking.

Presented in Cooperation with
C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust –Survivors Association In Michigan
Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan
Michigan Jewish Conference
Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life
The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

We recently welcomed award-winning editorial cartoonist Phil Hands for “Cartoons as Commentary: Reflecting on the Art of Erich Lichtblau-Leskly.” Phil analyzed many of the pieces that Erich created while imprisoned in the Theresienstadt ghetto and discussed how they align with modern-day editorial cartooning. We are grateful to those who attended the Special Exhibit gallery walk and program in person

Human testimony of the Holocaust is often reflected through the lens of men and their experiences. On International Women’s Day, we will illuminate the untold stories of women during the Holocaust and acknowledge that their experiences were different because they were women. Refreshments will be served.

Katie Chaka Parks is a Ph.D Candidate at Wayne State University. Katie’s research addresses the experiences of women during the Holocaust and how they are represented within museums across the country. She is currently the Manager of Adult Education at The HC.

Thank you to our Community Partners: The Wayne State University Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program and the Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program

Why were those responsible for the Holocaust often not prosecuted or even questioned? Filmmaker David Wilkinson’s relentless pursuit to find an answer to this question took him through 10 different countries over two decades. Interviews with countless experts helped to uncover how most Nazi perpetrators walked away untouched by justice.

The film Getting Away with Murder(s) will be available to stream beginning January 27, 2023 on the following platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Roku, Tubi & Xumo.

David Wilkinson is the director, writer, and producer of several acclaimed films including his recent documentary titled Getting Away With Murder(s). In addition to his work as Chairman of Guerilla Films Limited, Wilkinson is a writer for various screenplays and print publications.

Culinary Art Therapist and granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor Julie Ohana will invite viewers into her kitchen. While she makes her grandmother’s recipe for diosh, a traditional Hungarian pastry, Julie will share her passion for food and its ability to help us navigate the healing process.

Julie will be joined by her mother and daughter, highlighting the importance of sharing memories—and recipes—across generations.

Julie Ohana, L.M.S.W., founder of Culinary Art Therapy, has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and in The Washington Post. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she uses cooking as a tool to help others navigate trauma through recipes. Featuring a Special Appearance by popular food blogger and cookbook author Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn.

Click Here for Full Recipe

Thank you to our Community Partner: Oakland Community College Culinary Art Institute.

Join us for a virtual discussion to hear award-winning conductor Murry Sidlin tell the story of Rafael Schächter, an imprisoned conductor who led a creative rebellion in the ghetto concentration camp of Terezin.

Honoring Veterans Day: Legacies of the Holocaust and the U.S. Military

In-Person Event on Friday, November 11
Panel Discussion from 12:00-1:00 PM
Docent-led Museum Tour from 1:00-2:30 PM

Over half a million Jewish Americans served in the military during World War II, and American soldiers played a key role in liberating Jewish survivors from Nazi concentration and death camps. Join The Zekelman Holocaust Center on Veterans Day for a panel discussion on how these legacies have shaped the U.S. military.

We are honored to host local members of the Jewish War Veterans and the Michigan National Guard who will speak about their military experiences and reflect on this important day.

Love, Lies, and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive

Award-winning author Philippe Sands will delve into the life and mysterious death of Baron Otto von Wächter – a devoted Nazi and man on the run. Wächter’s complicated life and years evading justice are pieced together through two decades of family correspondence.

Philippe Sands, K.C., is a human rights lawyer and author of 17 books on international law including The Ratline. In addition to his work as President of English PEN, Sands is a CNN and BBC World Service contributor. He is also Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London.

Thank you to our Community Partners: The Michigan State University Department of History and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel.

Charlotte is an animated drama that tells the true story of Charlotte Salomon (Keira Knightley), a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. But the world around her is changing quickly and dangerously, limiting her options and derailing her dream.

When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she leaves Berlin for the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only the extraordinary will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

Information and tickets are available at www.gffilmfest.com.

A Michigan Perspective on the Latest Documentary from Ken burns, lynn novick and Sarah botstein: ‘The U.S. and the Holocaust’

Join us on Wednesday, September 14, at 7:00 PM for A Michigan Perspective on Ken Burns’ Latest Documentary: “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” The three-part series examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States, and race laws in the American south.

This event will feature clips from the film followed by a discussion with a panel of community leaders. Eli Newman, reporter and producer for Detroit Public Radio Station WDET-FM, will moderate the panel.

“The U.S. and the Holocaust,” a film by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein will air on September 18, 19, and 20 from 8:00 PM-10:00 PM ET on PBS stations nationwide

Thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Public TV,  Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit, and ADL Michigan.

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Author and historian Dr. Rafael Medoff will speak about Rabbi Herschel Schacter, a chaplain whose unit liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald. Schacter was thrust into the role of helping survivors rebuild their shattered lives and serving as their voice to the world.

Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and the author of more than 20 books about the Holocaust, Zionism, and American Jewish history including The Rabbi of Buchenwald. Dr. Medoff has taught at The Ohio State University and
Purchase College of the State University of New York, and is a Fellow of the Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research at Bar-Ilan University.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Quality Kosher Catering.

Virtual cooking class

Becca Gallick-Mitchell will demonstrate how to make her great grandmother Ester Weintraub’s Kopytka (Polish Potato Dumplings) and Mushroom Gravy. While Becca cooks, she will share some stories about her grandmother Mala Dorfman, her grandmother who survived the war, and Ester who perished.

Becca is a third generation Holocaust educator, recipe developer/blogger, and the founder of the InstaGrandma’s Kitchen website and Instagram account. Her inspiring culinary programs bridge generations and cultures while emphasizing the importance of fighting hatred with loving kindness.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

Thank you to our Community Partner: Oakland Community College, Culinary Studies Institute.

Understanding the Crisis in yemen

The war in Yemen, now entering its eighth year, has broken the country and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. What happened, what is happening now, and what can be done about it? Join us for a talk with Yemen expert Dr. Gregory Johnsen, introduced by U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (Michigan’s 3rd district) who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Dr. Gregory Johnsen is the author of The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia and a former member of the UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Yemen. In addition to being the editor of the Yemen Review, Dr. Johnsen is a fellow at both the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

U.S. Representative Peter Meijer           Dr. Greg Johnsen

Thank you to our Community Partners: Yemeni Honorary Consulate in Detroit and the Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children, Michigan State University College of Law.

MUSIC FROM AUSCHWITZ: A CONCERT

Silent for more than 70 years, the voices and stirring melodies of those imprisoned at Auschwitz will be brought to life. A University of Michigan student orchestra, led by conductor Oriol Sans, will present tangos, waltzes, and foxtrots, interspersed with readings of the prisoners’ own words.

The concert will feature musical pieces arranged by Polish political prisoners, who were members of the men’s orchestra in the Auschwitz I camp, for a dance band that played Sunday concerts for the Auschwitz garrison near the camp commandant’s villa. The pieces were recently rediscovered in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PROGRAM BOOKLET

Presented in Cooperation with
C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust –Survivors Association In Michigan
Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan
Michigan Jewish Conference
Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life
The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

“DEFEATING NAZIS IN COURT – THE CHARLOTTESVILLE TRIAL” WITH AMY SPITALNICK

The six triple eight

In February 1945, the Allied Forces were winning WWII and liberating the concentration camps. But the U.S. troops and their families weren’t getting their mail. Enter the only all-black Women’s Army Corps battalion to serve in Europe during WWII, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion or Six Triple Eight. Despite facing racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, the women served with honor, clearing 17 million backlogged letters. They were never fully recognized…until now.

This program is co-presented by Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

75 years of Holocaust Cinema

Wednesday, February 23 at 7:00 PM EST on ZOOM

Learn about Holocaust films from cinema expert Rich Brownstein. There are hundreds, in dozens of languages, from more than 40 countries. They include
drama, melodrama, docudrama, comedy, farce, science fiction, time travel, live-action and animation. Rich Brownstein has lectured at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem since 2014, specializing in the history and pedagogy of Holocaust films. His new book, Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide, was just published by McFarland Press.

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS OF THE VILNA GHETTO: A STORY OF MORAL RESISTANCE

In Vilna, the city Jews called “The Jerusalem of Lithuania,” a group of ghetto inmates risked their lives during World War II to rescue thousands of rare books, documents, and works of art from the Nazis. In an operation that lasted eighteen months, they smuggled the materials past guards and buried them in bunkers. Those members of the group who survived the War returned after Vilna’s liberation and dug up the materials. They eventually smuggled the books across Europe until they reached the United States and Israel. What did they rescue, and why did they do it?

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, author Dr. David E. Fishman will discuss the incredible story he wrote about in The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, and the exhibit based on his book.

LEARNING FROM OUR PARENTS’ PAST TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE

Rabbi Hanoch Teller, globetrotting storyteller extraordinaire and the son of a Holocaust survivor, has lectured before audiences on five continents, in 40 American states and 24 other countries. His presentations – imbued with joy and drama, laughter and pathos – provide a one-of-a-kind experience for listeners young and old. Through stories of personal encounters, and by identifying the failures of bystanders, he portrays the lessons of the Holocaust in relatable ways that empower contemporary audiences. Admission is $10, or free with membership.

The documentary film We Shall Not Die Now explores the tragedy and lessons of the Holocaust and the resilience of its survivors. Filmed through the country of Poland at all of the major camps, landmarks and cities, it features over 25 survivors, liberators and scholars.

Ashton Gleckman is a 21-year-old composer, producer, and filmmaker from Carmel, Indiana. He has released a feature-length documentary film and  five albums, written and directed five short films, composed scores for a number of productions, and has also produced over thirty hours of online video tutorial content.

Zlata Filipovic grew up under one of the longest sieges in modern-day history in her native city of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hear the fascinating story of her wartime childhood, the publication of her diary, and how they led to her current engagement with human rights and storytelling.

Zlata is the author of the international bestseller Zlata’s Diary, the co-editor of Stolen Voices: Young People’s War Diaries form WWI to Iraq, and a documentary filmmaker.

To order your copy of Stolen Voices or Zlata’s Diary from the HMC Billes Museum Shop, please click here.

Thank you to our Community Partner: the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

September 2021 marks the 80^th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, which occurred on September 29-30, 1941. On the evening of September 29 almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly rounded up and shot over two days at Babi Yar, a ravine that was then located on the outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This horrific massacre became a symbol of the Holocaust by bullets, the mass shootings carried out in Eastern Europe by the Nazis.

To observe this anniversary, the Holocaust Memorial Center is honored to rebroadcast the 2019 concert Shostakovich Babi Yar Remembering the Holocaust performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles.  This performance features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) and selections from Charles Davidson’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Presented by the Michigan State University College of Music and The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at MSU, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, the Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit and The Detroit Jewish News.

Generously sponsored by Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, Margie Dunn and Mark Davidoff, Howard J. Gourwitz,  Belle and Julius Harris Visiting Artist Fund established by Lauren Julius Harris, Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Fund in Jewish Arts & Music, Sue and Alan Kaufman, Iris and Stephen Linder, Rebecca and Alan Ross, Elaine and Michael Serling/The Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, Drs. Lou A. and Roy J. Simon, Linn Van Dyne and Mike Knox, Jeff D. Williams, and Andrea L. Wulf.

Dr. Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, College of Social Science, and affiliate of the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

Dr. Kevin Bartig, Associate Professor of Musicology, MSU College of Music

Dr. Amy Simon, William and Audrey Farber Family Chair in Holocaust Studies and European Jewish History; Assistant Professor, James Madison College, Department of History; and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

In 1945 the diary of Polish teenager Rywka Lipszyc was discovered amid the rubble of the recently liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It was written during Rywka’s time in the Łodz ghetto and provides poignant reflections on her life and experiences in the years 1943 and 1944. This presentation explores the historical context within which Rywka’s diary was written – focusing on the organizational structure of the Łodz ghetto and the nature of life there under Nazi rule – while also reflecting on broader themes raised by Rywka’s compelling narrative and on the continuing importance of such first-person accounts in deepening our understanding of victims’ experiences.

Derek Hastings received his PhD in modern European history from the University of Chicago and is currently Associate Professor of History at Oakland University.  He is the author of Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Nationalism in Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018).

Thank you to our Community Partner: Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement, Oakland University

During WWII, a handpicked group of GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission: use special effects to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American troops.  Rick Beyer brings this incredible true story to life.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Detroit VA Health Care System, Yankee Air Museum and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States – Department of Michigan.

After the Nazis murder her family, 12-year-old Sara Guralnik flees to the Ukrainian countryside and assumes the identity of her Christian best friend. She lives by her wits as a farmhouse maid, where one slip of her tongue could mean her life. The award-winning film My Name Is Sara tells the true story of her bravery, strength and survival. Watch it online, on-demand from Thursday, July 15- Sunday, July 18 at holocaustcenter.org. Then join us on July 18 for a discussion with Sara’s son and Executive Producer Mickey Shapiro, Director Steven Oritt and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Congregation Beth Ahm.

Evil Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele was the embodiment of bloodless efficiency and passionate devotion to a grotesque worldview. Author David Marwell will discuss Mengele’s twisted career and his escape to South America.

To order a copy of Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death’ by David Marwell, click here.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State University School of Medicine and Wayne State University College of Nursing.

Learn about the Jews who escaped to India and Iran after 1933. On the margins of the Holocaust and anxious about their families’ fates, they were homeless and stateless, but also oddly privileged as adventurous Europeans in non-western societies. Our speaker, Atina Grossmann, is Professor of History at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Thank you to our Community Partners: India League of America – Michigan and the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

Watch acclaimed French violinist Arnaud Sussmann and Dave Wagner, Program Director and host of WRCJ 90.9 FM discuss his Holocaust-inspired recital. Arnaud regularly graces the world’s stages as a soloist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The special program performed on June 8 for the Holocaust Memorial Center was inspired by his grandfather’s survival of Auschwitz-Birkenau. To honor the memories of those lost, Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Michael Brown performed works of Jewish composers whose lives were directly impacted by WWII, including Robert Dauber, Pavel Haas, and Erwin Schulhoff. Learn more about Sussman’s music and family by clicking the arrow above.

Arnaud’s program pays homage to his grandfather, Jacques Sussmann, who was a Holocaust survivor. Watch the video below to hear Arnaud share his grandfather’s story of surviving Auschwitz.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Hour Detroit Magazine, Detroit Public TV/ WRCJ 90.9 FM and Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies.

After nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. government is engaged in talks with the Taliban as part of an effort to forge a peace settlement and wind down U.S. military commitment. Within Afghanistan, government officials and ordinary citizens are fearful that an American exit could leave a beleaguered population at the mercy of the Taliban. How can the U.S. avoid a repeat of the 1975 Indochina withdrawal, which contributed to the rise of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime? Associate Professor of Public Policy, John D. Ciorciari, will discuss the ways in which governments and ordinary citizens can help reduce the risk of genocide.

For Professor Ciorciari’s suggestions for how you can help and his links to agencies and projects in Afghanistan: Click Here

Thank you to our Community Partners, the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the Donia Human Rights Center at the University of Michigan.

To download a program for the commemoration, click here. 

Presented in cooperation with C.H.A.I.M.-Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan, Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University, Michigan Jewish Conference, Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life, The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization, and The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

As part of the 2021 Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe, thousands of women fought with defiance and dignity to save themselves and others. Be inspired by the courageous choices and words of female leaders in rescue and resistance movements. Our speaker, Dr. Lori Weintrob, is Professor of History and Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center in Staten Island, NY.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan.

Pen and Pistol Program

A virtual program featuring Sarah Megan Thomas, the film’s screenwriter, actor and producer; Craig Gralley, author of Hall of Mirrors – Virginia Hall: America’s Greatest Spy of WWII; and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer in partnership with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from Mean Streets Management.

Synopsis of A Call to Spy: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency to recruit and train an army of female spies to infiltrate Europe and help build the French Resistance against the Nazi regime. Inspired by true events and the stories of Virginia Hall, Vera Atkins and Noor Inayat Khan. Vera Atkins, was Jewish and faced anti-Semitism in London while working for the SOE, British intelligence.

A special thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Jewish Film Festival and Greater Farmington Film Festival.

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism and slavery, what can we learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past? Philosopher and author Susan Neiman and National Public Radio (NPR) 1A host Jenn White will discuss Germany’s effort to atone for the Holocaust and the work that contemporary Americans are doing to try to make amends for our country’s historical wrongdoings.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, and Detroit Public Television.

The Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China, are being persecuted by the Chinese government with incarceration in concentration camps, forced sterilization, mass disappearances, and the destruction of their culture. Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide, discusses the efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable.

Thank you to our community partners: the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children and the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC)

Medical professionals played an integral role in the planning and implementation of Nazi racial policy. Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, senior historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will discuss how medical professionals enforced policies of compulsory sterilization, as well as the “Euthanasia” program. Through these legalized programs, the Nazis murdered 650,000 people and set an important precedent for the Holocaust.

Thank you to our community partner the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

The Soap Myth Play

The Soap Myth virtual discussion

Remembering Kristallnacht: An interview with Henry and Rosie Baum (Monday, Nov. 9)

Krakow, one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in Poland before WWII, is rich in Jewish history. In spite of a resurgence of antisemitism throughout Europe, Krakow’s Jewish community continues to grow and thrive.

Panelists were Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue; Gail Offen, a child of a Shoah survivor from Krakow; and Jessica Katz, 2019 Ralph I. Goldman Fellow for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Author and journalist Helen Epstein discussed her mother’s powerful memoir, the testimony of an incredibly strong young woman who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and survived. Franci Rabinek was a Prague dress designer when the war began. She lied to Dr. Mengele at her Auschwitz selection, saying she was an electrician, an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. Her memoir gives an intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends.

An online Film and Conversation with Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin

Three years ago white supremacists came to Charlottesville chanting neo-Nazi slogans and rallying just outside the city’s only synagogue. Since then, members of Charlottesville’s Jewish community have been on a journey against hate. At times, the journey required self-reflection. At times, it required communal action. But no matter what form it took, Charlottesville’s Jews found that standing up for themselves meant standing up for justice in the broader community.

Documentary short Reawakening recounts their journey. Through interviews with rabbis and congregants, the film explores how the white supremacy they experienced transformed their understanding of themselves and their city — and how it intensified their commitment to racial justice.

Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin served as associate rabbi for Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel from 2016-2020. During her time in Charlottesville she was active in Charlottesville’s interfaith and social justice community. Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz is a former Senior Producer at CNN International covering business and economics. She now works as a writer, director, and producer of documentary shorts for non-profits, often on subjects related to Judaism.

A very special thank you to our program supporters:

World-renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum interviewed Dr. Guy Stern in an online Zoom webinar about Guy’s remarkable life and his new memoir. Born in Germany, Guy was the only one in his family to escape from the Holocaust. He landed in Normandy 3 days after D-Day as a member of a special military intelligence unit and earned a Bronze Star Medal for his work interrogating German prisoners of war. Today, Guy is the HMC’s Director of the Harry and Wanda Zekelman International Institute of the Righteous and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University.

• To purchase Invisible Ink, email andrea.moellering@holocaustcenter.org.

Dr. Stern’s memoir Invisible Ink is published by Wayne State University Press.

A hidden child during the Holocaust, Miriam was smuggled as an infant out of the Srodula ghetto by a righteous gentile couple who adopted her. Her immediate family perished in the Holocaust and Miriam learned that she was Jewish when she was 16 years old.

Yiddish literature grappled with the questions the Holocaust raised for the Jews and the wider world. How did they understand what was happening? What did it mean to be “the chosen people?” Were the promises of the Enlightenment—liberty, equality, fraternity—now at an end for Jews? In this lecture, Dr. Anita Norich discusses a range of Yiddish literary responses to these questions in an online Zoom Webinar.

Thank you to our program supporters: Robin & Leo Eisenberg, Gerald & Betsy (z”l) Loomus, Denise & Peter Rodgers, Shelley & Joel Tauber and the PNC Foundation.

On the 60th anniversary of the the Israeli secret mission to capture the architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, the Holocaust Memorial Center hosted our first Facebook Live event featuring New York Times Best-Selling Author Neal Bascomb and moderated by Multimedia Journalist and former WXYZ TV 7 anchor Stephen Clark.

Click here to view the recording of the event.

The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus hosted its annual community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sun. April 26 at 2 pm. For the first time, the Holocaust Memorial Center’s Yom HaShoah commemoration was hosted online while the museum is closed to the public in accordance with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.

Board member Steven R. Weisberg offered opening remarks, while Rabbi Yonatan Dahlen and Hazzan David Propis of Shaarey Zedek led the commemoration.

As part of this 2020’s Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Click here to see a list of everyone who sent in videos for this special project to perpetuate the memory of the Six Million, and see below to watch the entire program.

Avner Avraham, Shula Bahat and Patrick Gallagher join the Holocaust Memorial Center to kick off the “Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann” exhibit’s last stop in the United States.

Human testimony of the Holocaust is often reflected through the lens of men and their experiences. On International Women’s Day, we will illuminate the untold stories of women during the Holocaust and acknowledge that their experiences were different because they were women. Refreshments will be served.

Katie Chaka Parks is a Ph.D Candidate at Wayne State University. Katie’s research addresses the experiences of women during the Holocaust and how they are represented within museums across the country. She is currently the Manager of Adult Education at The HC.

Thank you to our Community Partners: The Wayne State University Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program and the Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program

Why were those responsible for the Holocaust often not prosecuted or even questioned? Filmmaker David Wilkinson’s relentless pursuit to find an answer to this question took him through 10 different countries over two decades. Interviews with countless experts helped to uncover how most Nazi perpetrators walked away untouched by justice.

The film Getting Away with Murder(s) will be available to stream beginning January 27, 2023 on the following platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Roku, Tubi & Xumo.

David Wilkinson is the director, writer, and producer of several acclaimed films including his recent documentary titled Getting Away With Murder(s). In addition to his work as Chairman of Guerilla Films Limited, Wilkinson is a writer for various screenplays and print publications.

Culinary Art Therapist and granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor Julie Ohana will invite viewers into her kitchen. While she makes her grandmother’s recipe for diosh, a traditional Hungarian pastry, Julie will share her passion for food and its ability to help us navigate the healing process.

Julie will be joined by her mother and daughter, highlighting the importance of sharing memories—and recipes—across generations.

Julie Ohana, L.M.S.W., founder of Culinary Art Therapy, has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and in The Washington Post. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she uses cooking as a tool to help others navigate trauma through recipes. Featuring a Special Appearance by popular food blogger and cookbook author Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn.

Click Here for Full Recipe

Thank you to our Community Partner: Oakland Community College Culinary Art Institute.

Join us for a virtual discussion to hear award-winning conductor Murry Sidlin tell the story of Rafael Schächter, an imprisoned conductor who led a creative rebellion in the ghetto concentration camp of Terezin.

Honoring Veterans Day: Legacies of the Holocaust and the U.S. Military

In-Person Event on Friday, November 11
Panel Discussion from 12:00-1:00 PM
Docent-led Museum Tour from 1:00-2:30 PM

Over half a million Jewish Americans served in the military during World War II, and American soldiers played a key role in liberating Jewish survivors from Nazi concentration and death camps. Join The Zekelman Holocaust Center on Veterans Day for a panel discussion on how these legacies have shaped the U.S. military.

We are honored to host local members of the Jewish War Veterans and the Michigan National Guard who will speak about their military experiences and reflect on this important day.

Love, Lies, and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive

Award-winning author Philippe Sands will delve into the life and mysterious death of Baron Otto von Wächter – a devoted Nazi and man on the run. Wächter’s complicated life and years evading justice are pieced together through two decades of family correspondence.

Philippe Sands, K.C., is a human rights lawyer and author of 17 books on international law including The Ratline. In addition to his work as President of English PEN, Sands is a CNN and BBC World Service contributor. He is also Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London.

Thank you to our Community Partners: The Michigan State University Department of History and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel.

Charlotte is an animated drama that tells the true story of Charlotte Salomon (Keira Knightley), a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. But the world around her is changing quickly and dangerously, limiting her options and derailing her dream.

When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she leaves Berlin for the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only the extraordinary will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

Information and tickets are available at www.gffilmfest.com.

A Michigan Perspective on the Latest Documentary from Ken burns, lynn novick and Sarah botstein: ‘The U.S. and the Holocaust’

Join us on Wednesday, September 14, at 7:00 PM for A Michigan Perspective on Ken Burns’ Latest Documentary: “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” The three-part series examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States, and race laws in the American south.

This event will feature clips from the film followed by a discussion with a panel of community leaders. Eli Newman, reporter and producer for Detroit Public Radio Station WDET-FM, will moderate the panel.

“The U.S. and the Holocaust,” a film by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein will air on September 18, 19, and 20 from 8:00 PM-10:00 PM ET on PBS stations nationwide

Thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Public TV,  Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit, and ADL Michigan.

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Author and historian Dr. Rafael Medoff will speak about Rabbi Herschel Schacter, a chaplain whose unit liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald. Schacter was thrust into the role of helping survivors rebuild their shattered lives and serving as their voice to the world.

Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and the author of more than 20 books about the Holocaust, Zionism, and American Jewish history including The Rabbi of Buchenwald. Dr. Medoff has taught at The Ohio State University and
Purchase College of the State University of New York, and is a Fellow of the Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research at Bar-Ilan University.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Quality Kosher Catering.

Virtual cooking class

Becca Gallick-Mitchell will demonstrate how to make her great grandmother Ester Weintraub’s Kopytka (Polish Potato Dumplings) and Mushroom Gravy. While Becca cooks, she will share some stories about her grandmother Mala Dorfman, her grandmother who survived the war, and Ester who perished.

Becca is a third generation Holocaust educator, recipe developer/blogger, and the founder of the InstaGrandma’s Kitchen website and Instagram account. Her inspiring culinary programs bridge generations and cultures while emphasizing the importance of fighting hatred with loving kindness.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

Thank you to our Community Partner: Oakland Community College, Culinary Studies Institute.

Understanding the Crisis in yemen

The war in Yemen, now entering its eighth year, has broken the country and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. What happened, what is happening now, and what can be done about it? Join us for a talk with Yemen expert Dr. Gregory Johnsen, introduced by U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (Michigan’s 3rd district) who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Dr. Gregory Johnsen is the author of The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia and a former member of the UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Yemen. In addition to being the editor of the Yemen Review, Dr. Johnsen is a fellow at both the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

U.S. Representative Peter Meijer           Dr. Greg Johnsen

Thank you to our Community Partners: Yemeni Honorary Consulate in Detroit and the Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children, Michigan State University College of Law.

MUSIC FROM AUSCHWITZ: A CONCERT

Silent for more than 70 years, the voices and stirring melodies of those imprisoned at Auschwitz will be brought to life. A University of Michigan student orchestra, led by conductor Oriol Sans, will present tangos, waltzes, and foxtrots, interspersed with readings of the prisoners’ own words.

The concert will feature musical pieces arranged by Polish political prisoners, who were members of the men’s orchestra in the Auschwitz I camp, for a dance band that played Sunday concerts for the Auschwitz garrison near the camp commandant’s villa. The pieces were recently rediscovered in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PROGRAM BOOKLET

Presented in Cooperation with
C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust –Survivors Association In Michigan
Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan
Michigan Jewish Conference
Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life
The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

“DEFEATING NAZIS IN COURT – THE CHARLOTTESVILLE TRIAL” WITH AMY SPITALNICK

The six triple eight

In February 1945, the Allied Forces were winning WWII and liberating the concentration camps. But the U.S. troops and their families weren’t getting their mail. Enter the only all-black Women’s Army Corps battalion to serve in Europe during WWII, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion or Six Triple Eight. Despite facing racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, the women served with honor, clearing 17 million backlogged letters. They were never fully recognized…until now.

This program is co-presented by Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

75 years of Holocaust Cinema

Wednesday, February 23 at 7:00 PM EST on ZOOM

Learn about Holocaust films from cinema expert Rich Brownstein. There are hundreds, in dozens of languages, from more than 40 countries. They include
drama, melodrama, docudrama, comedy, farce, science fiction, time travel, live-action and animation. Rich Brownstein has lectured at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem since 2014, specializing in the history and pedagogy of Holocaust films. His new book, Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide, was just published by McFarland Press.

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS OF THE VILNA GHETTO: A STORY OF MORAL RESISTANCE

In Vilna, the city Jews called “The Jerusalem of Lithuania,” a group of ghetto inmates risked their lives during World War II to rescue thousands of rare books, documents, and works of art from the Nazis. In an operation that lasted eighteen months, they smuggled the materials past guards and buried them in bunkers. Those members of the group who survived the War returned after Vilna’s liberation and dug up the materials. They eventually smuggled the books across Europe until they reached the United States and Israel. What did they rescue, and why did they do it?

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, author Dr. David E. Fishman will discuss the incredible story he wrote about in The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, and the exhibit based on his book.

LEARNING FROM OUR PARENTS’ PAST TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE

Rabbi Hanoch Teller, globetrotting storyteller extraordinaire and the son of a Holocaust survivor, has lectured before audiences on five continents, in 40 American states and 24 other countries. His presentations – imbued with joy and drama, laughter and pathos – provide a one-of-a-kind experience for listeners young and old. Through stories of personal encounters, and by identifying the failures of bystanders, he portrays the lessons of the Holocaust in relatable ways that empower contemporary audiences. Admission is $10, or free with membership.

The documentary film We Shall Not Die Now explores the tragedy and lessons of the Holocaust and the resilience of its survivors. Filmed through the country of Poland at all of the major camps, landmarks and cities, it features over 25 survivors, liberators and scholars.

Ashton Gleckman is a 21-year-old composer, producer, and filmmaker from Carmel, Indiana. He has released a feature-length documentary film and  five albums, written and directed five short films, composed scores for a number of productions, and has also produced over thirty hours of online video tutorial content.

Zlata Filipovic grew up under one of the longest sieges in modern-day history in her native city of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hear the fascinating story of her wartime childhood, the publication of her diary, and how they led to her current engagement with human rights and storytelling.

Zlata is the author of the international bestseller Zlata’s Diary, the co-editor of Stolen Voices: Young People’s War Diaries form WWI to Iraq, and a documentary filmmaker.

To order your copy of Stolen Voices or Zlata’s Diary from the HMC Billes Museum Shop, please click here.

Thank you to our Community Partner: the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

September 2021 marks the 80^th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, which occurred on September 29-30, 1941. On the evening of September 29 almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly rounded up and shot over two days at Babi Yar, a ravine that was then located on the outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This horrific massacre became a symbol of the Holocaust by bullets, the mass shootings carried out in Eastern Europe by the Nazis.

To observe this anniversary, the Holocaust Memorial Center is honored to rebroadcast the 2019 concert Shostakovich Babi Yar Remembering the Holocaust performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles.  This performance features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) and selections from Charles Davidson’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Presented by the Michigan State University College of Music and The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at MSU, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, the Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit and The Detroit Jewish News.

Generously sponsored by Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, Margie Dunn and Mark Davidoff, Howard J. Gourwitz,  Belle and Julius Harris Visiting Artist Fund established by Lauren Julius Harris, Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Fund in Jewish Arts & Music, Sue and Alan Kaufman, Iris and Stephen Linder, Rebecca and Alan Ross, Elaine and Michael Serling/The Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, Drs. Lou A. and Roy J. Simon, Linn Van Dyne and Mike Knox, Jeff D. Williams, and Andrea L. Wulf.

Dr. Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, College of Social Science, and affiliate of the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

Dr. Kevin Bartig, Associate Professor of Musicology, MSU College of Music

Dr. Amy Simon, William and Audrey Farber Family Chair in Holocaust Studies and European Jewish History; Assistant Professor, James Madison College, Department of History; and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

In 1945 the diary of Polish teenager Rywka Lipszyc was discovered amid the rubble of the recently liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It was written during Rywka’s time in the Łodz ghetto and provides poignant reflections on her life and experiences in the years 1943 and 1944. This presentation explores the historical context within which Rywka’s diary was written – focusing on the organizational structure of the Łodz ghetto and the nature of life there under Nazi rule – while also reflecting on broader themes raised by Rywka’s compelling narrative and on the continuing importance of such first-person accounts in deepening our understanding of victims’ experiences.

Derek Hastings received his PhD in modern European history from the University of Chicago and is currently Associate Professor of History at Oakland University.  He is the author of Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Nationalism in Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018).

Thank you to our Community Partner: Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement, Oakland University

During WWII, a handpicked group of GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission: use special effects to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American troops.  Rick Beyer brings this incredible true story to life.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Detroit VA Health Care System, Yankee Air Museum and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States – Department of Michigan.

After the Nazis murder her family, 12-year-old Sara Guralnik flees to the Ukrainian countryside and assumes the identity of her Christian best friend. She lives by her wits as a farmhouse maid, where one slip of her tongue could mean her life. The award-winning film My Name Is Sara tells the true story of her bravery, strength and survival. Watch it online, on-demand from Thursday, July 15- Sunday, July 18 at holocaustcenter.org. Then join us on July 18 for a discussion with Sara’s son and Executive Producer Mickey Shapiro, Director Steven Oritt and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Congregation Beth Ahm.

Evil Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele was the embodiment of bloodless efficiency and passionate devotion to a grotesque worldview. Author David Marwell will discuss Mengele’s twisted career and his escape to South America.

To order a copy of Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death’ by David Marwell, click here.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State University School of Medicine and Wayne State University College of Nursing.

Learn about the Jews who escaped to India and Iran after 1933. On the margins of the Holocaust and anxious about their families’ fates, they were homeless and stateless, but also oddly privileged as adventurous Europeans in non-western societies. Our speaker, Atina Grossmann, is Professor of History at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Thank you to our Community Partners: India League of America – Michigan and the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

Watch acclaimed French violinist Arnaud Sussmann and Dave Wagner, Program Director and host of WRCJ 90.9 FM discuss his Holocaust-inspired recital. Arnaud regularly graces the world’s stages as a soloist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The special program performed on June 8 for the Holocaust Memorial Center was inspired by his grandfather’s survival of Auschwitz-Birkenau. To honor the memories of those lost, Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Michael Brown performed works of Jewish composers whose lives were directly impacted by WWII, including Robert Dauber, Pavel Haas, and Erwin Schulhoff. Learn more about Sussman’s music and family by clicking the arrow above.

Arnaud’s program pays homage to his grandfather, Jacques Sussmann, who was a Holocaust survivor. Watch the video below to hear Arnaud share his grandfather’s story of surviving Auschwitz.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Hour Detroit Magazine, Detroit Public TV/ WRCJ 90.9 FM and Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies.

After nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. government is engaged in talks with the Taliban as part of an effort to forge a peace settlement and wind down U.S. military commitment. Within Afghanistan, government officials and ordinary citizens are fearful that an American exit could leave a beleaguered population at the mercy of the Taliban. How can the U.S. avoid a repeat of the 1975 Indochina withdrawal, which contributed to the rise of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime? Associate Professor of Public Policy, John D. Ciorciari, will discuss the ways in which governments and ordinary citizens can help reduce the risk of genocide.

For Professor Ciorciari’s suggestions for how you can help and his links to agencies and projects in Afghanistan: Click Here

Thank you to our Community Partners, the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the Donia Human Rights Center at the University of Michigan.

To download a program for the commemoration, click here. 

Presented in cooperation with C.H.A.I.M.-Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan, Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University, Michigan Jewish Conference, Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life, The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization, and The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

As part of the 2021 Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe, thousands of women fought with defiance and dignity to save themselves and others. Be inspired by the courageous choices and words of female leaders in rescue and resistance movements. Our speaker, Dr. Lori Weintrob, is Professor of History and Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center in Staten Island, NY.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan.

Pen and Pistol Program

A virtual program featuring Sarah Megan Thomas, the film’s screenwriter, actor and producer; Craig Gralley, author of Hall of Mirrors – Virginia Hall: America’s Greatest Spy of WWII; and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer in partnership with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from Mean Streets Management.

Synopsis of A Call to Spy: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency to recruit and train an army of female spies to infiltrate Europe and help build the French Resistance against the Nazi regime. Inspired by true events and the stories of Virginia Hall, Vera Atkins and Noor Inayat Khan. Vera Atkins, was Jewish and faced anti-Semitism in London while working for the SOE, British intelligence.

A special thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Jewish Film Festival and Greater Farmington Film Festival.

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism and slavery, what can we learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past? Philosopher and author Susan Neiman and National Public Radio (NPR) 1A host Jenn White will discuss Germany’s effort to atone for the Holocaust and the work that contemporary Americans are doing to try to make amends for our country’s historical wrongdoings.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, and Detroit Public Television.

The Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China, are being persecuted by the Chinese government with incarceration in concentration camps, forced sterilization, mass disappearances, and the destruction of their culture. Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide, discusses the efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable.

Thank you to our community partners: the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children and the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC)

Medical professionals played an integral role in the planning and implementation of Nazi racial policy. Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, senior historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will discuss how medical professionals enforced policies of compulsory sterilization, as well as the “Euthanasia” program. Through these legalized programs, the Nazis murdered 650,000 people and set an important precedent for the Holocaust.

Thank you to our community partner the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

The Soap Myth Play

The Soap Myth virtual discussion

Remembering Kristallnacht: An interview with Henry and Rosie Baum (Monday, Nov. 9)

Krakow, one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in Poland before WWII, is rich in Jewish history. In spite of a resurgence of antisemitism throughout Europe, Krakow’s Jewish community continues to grow and thrive.

Panelists were Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue; Gail Offen, a child of a Shoah survivor from Krakow; and Jessica Katz, 2019 Ralph I. Goldman Fellow for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Author and journalist Helen Epstein discussed her mother’s powerful memoir, the testimony of an incredibly strong young woman who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and survived. Franci Rabinek was a Prague dress designer when the war began. She lied to Dr. Mengele at her Auschwitz selection, saying she was an electrician, an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. Her memoir gives an intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends.

An online Film and Conversation with Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin

Three years ago white supremacists came to Charlottesville chanting neo-Nazi slogans and rallying just outside the city’s only synagogue. Since then, members of Charlottesville’s Jewish community have been on a journey against hate. At times, the journey required self-reflection. At times, it required communal action. But no matter what form it took, Charlottesville’s Jews found that standing up for themselves meant standing up for justice in the broader community.

Documentary short Reawakening recounts their journey. Through interviews with rabbis and congregants, the film explores how the white supremacy they experienced transformed their understanding of themselves and their city — and how it intensified their commitment to racial justice.

Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin served as associate rabbi for Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel from 2016-2020. During her time in Charlottesville she was active in Charlottesville’s interfaith and social justice community. Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz is a former Senior Producer at CNN International covering business and economics. She now works as a writer, director, and producer of documentary shorts for non-profits, often on subjects related to Judaism.

A very special thank you to our program supporters:

World-renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum interviewed Dr. Guy Stern in an online Zoom webinar about Guy’s remarkable life and his new memoir. Born in Germany, Guy was the only one in his family to escape from the Holocaust. He landed in Normandy 3 days after D-Day as a member of a special military intelligence unit and earned a Bronze Star Medal for his work interrogating German prisoners of war. Today, Guy is the HMC’s Director of the Harry and Wanda Zekelman International Institute of the Righteous and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University.

• To purchase Invisible Ink, email andrea.moellering@holocaustcenter.org.

Dr. Stern’s memoir Invisible Ink is published by Wayne State University Press.

A hidden child during the Holocaust, Miriam was smuggled as an infant out of the Srodula ghetto by a righteous gentile couple who adopted her. Her immediate family perished in the Holocaust and Miriam learned that she was Jewish when she was 16 years old.

Yiddish literature grappled with the questions the Holocaust raised for the Jews and the wider world. How did they understand what was happening? What did it mean to be “the chosen people?” Were the promises of the Enlightenment—liberty, equality, fraternity—now at an end for Jews? In this lecture, Dr. Anita Norich discusses a range of Yiddish literary responses to these questions in an online Zoom Webinar.

Thank you to our program supporters: Robin & Leo Eisenberg, Gerald & Betsy (z”l) Loomus, Denise & Peter Rodgers, Shelley & Joel Tauber and the PNC Foundation.

On the 60th anniversary of the the Israeli secret mission to capture the architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, the Holocaust Memorial Center hosted our first Facebook Live event featuring New York Times Best-Selling Author Neal Bascomb and moderated by Multimedia Journalist and former WXYZ TV 7 anchor Stephen Clark.

Click here to view the recording of the event.

The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus hosted its annual community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sun. April 26 at 2 pm. For the first time, the Holocaust Memorial Center’s Yom HaShoah commemoration was hosted online while the museum is closed to the public in accordance with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.

Board member Steven R. Weisberg offered opening remarks, while Rabbi Yonatan Dahlen and Hazzan David Propis of Shaarey Zedek led the commemoration.

As part of this 2020’s Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Click here to see a list of everyone who sent in videos for this special project to perpetuate the memory of the Six Million, and see below to watch the entire program.

Avner Avraham, Shula Bahat and Patrick Gallagher join the Holocaust Memorial Center to kick off the “Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann” exhibit’s last stop in the United States.

Virtual cooking class

Thursday, July 28 at 7:00 pm EDT

Becca Gallick-Mitchell will demonstrate how to make her great grandmother Ester Weintraub’s Kopytka (Polish Potato Dumplings) and Mushroom Gravy. While Becca cooks, she will share some stories about her grandmother Mala Dorfman, her grandmother who survived the war, and Ester who perished.

Becca is a third generation Holocaust educator, recipe developer/blogger, and the founder of the InstaGrandma’s Kitchen website and Instagram account. Her inspiring culinary programs bridge generations and cultures while emphasizing the importance of fighting hatred with loving kindness.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

Thank you to our Community Partner: Oakland Community College, Culinary Studies Institute.

Understanding the Crisis in yemen

The war in Yemen, now entering its eighth year, has broken the country and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. What happened, what is happening now, and what can be done about it? Join us for a talk with Yemen expert Dr. Gregory Johnsen, introduced by U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (Michigan’s 3rd district) who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Dr. Gregory Johnsen is the author of The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia and a former member of the UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Yemen. In addition to being the editor of the Yemen Review, Dr. Johnsen is a fellow at both the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

U.S. Representative Peter Meijer           Dr. Greg Johnsen

Thank you to our Community Partners: Yemeni Honorary Consulate in Detroit and the Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children, Michigan State University College of Law.

MUSIC FROM AUSCHWITZ: A CONCERT

Silent for more than 70 years, the voices and stirring melodies of those imprisoned at Auschwitz will be brought to life. A University of Michigan student orchestra, led by conductor Oriol Sans, will present tangos, waltzes, and foxtrots, interspersed with readings of the prisoners’ own words.

The concert will feature musical pieces arranged by Polish political prisoners, who were members of the men’s orchestra in the Auschwitz I camp, for a dance band that played Sunday concerts for the Auschwitz garrison near the camp commandant’s villa. The pieces were recently rediscovered in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PROGRAM BOOKLET

Presented in Cooperation with
C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust –Survivors Association In Michigan
Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan
Michigan Jewish Conference
Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life
The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

“DEFEATING NAZIS IN COURT – THE CHARLOTTESVILLE TRIAL” WITH AMY SPITALNICK

The six triple eight

In February 1945, the Allied Forces were winning WWII and liberating the concentration camps. But the U.S. troops and their families weren’t getting their mail. Enter the only all-black Women’s Army Corps battalion to serve in Europe during WWII, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion or Six Triple Eight. Despite facing racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, the women served with honor, clearing 17 million backlogged letters. They were never fully recognized…until now.

This program is co-presented by Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

75 years of Holocaust Cinema

Wednesday, February 23 at 7:00 PM EST on ZOOM

Learn about Holocaust films from cinema expert Rich Brownstein. There are hundreds, in dozens of languages, from more than 40 countries. They include
drama, melodrama, docudrama, comedy, farce, science fiction, time travel, live-action and animation. Rich Brownstein has lectured at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem since 2014, specializing in the history and pedagogy of Holocaust films. His new book, Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide, was just published by McFarland Press.

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS OF THE VILNA GHETTO: A STORY OF MORAL RESISTANCE

In Vilna, the city Jews called “The Jerusalem of Lithuania,” a group of ghetto inmates risked their lives during World War II to rescue thousands of rare books, documents, and works of art from the Nazis. In an operation that lasted eighteen months, they smuggled the materials past guards and buried them in bunkers. Those members of the group who survived the War returned after Vilna’s liberation and dug up the materials. They eventually smuggled the books across Europe until they reached the United States and Israel. What did they rescue, and why did they do it?

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, author Dr. David E. Fishman will discuss the incredible story he wrote about in The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, and the exhibit based on his book.

LEARNING FROM OUR PARENTS’ PAST TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE

Rabbi Hanoch Teller, globetrotting storyteller extraordinaire and the son of a Holocaust survivor, has lectured before audiences on five continents, in 40 American states and 24 other countries. His presentations – imbued with joy and drama, laughter and pathos – provide a one-of-a-kind experience for listeners young and old. Through stories of personal encounters, and by identifying the failures of bystanders, he portrays the lessons of the Holocaust in relatable ways that empower contemporary audiences. Admission is $10, or free with membership.

The documentary film We Shall Not Die Now explores the tragedy and lessons of the Holocaust and the resilience of its survivors. Filmed through the country of Poland at all of the major camps, landmarks and cities, it features over 25 survivors, liberators and scholars.

Ashton Gleckman is a 21-year-old composer, producer, and filmmaker from Carmel, Indiana. He has released a feature-length documentary film and  five albums, written and directed five short films, composed scores for a number of productions, and has also produced over thirty hours of online video tutorial content.

Zlata Filipovic grew up under one of the longest sieges in modern-day history in her native city of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hear the fascinating story of her wartime childhood, the publication of her diary, and how they led to her current engagement with human rights and storytelling.

Zlata is the author of the international bestseller Zlata’s Diary, the co-editor of Stolen Voices: Young People’s War Diaries form WWI to Iraq, and a documentary filmmaker.

To order your copy of Stolen Voices or Zlata’s Diary from the HMC Billes Museum Shop, please click here.

Thank you to our Community Partner: the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

September 2021 marks the 80^th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, which occurred on September 29-30, 1941. On the evening of September 29 almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly rounded up and shot over two days at Babi Yar, a ravine that was then located on the outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This horrific massacre became a symbol of the Holocaust by bullets, the mass shootings carried out in Eastern Europe by the Nazis.

To observe this anniversary, the Holocaust Memorial Center is honored to rebroadcast the 2019 concert Shostakovich Babi Yar Remembering the Holocaust performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles.  This performance features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) and selections from Charles Davidson’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Presented by the Michigan State University College of Music and The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at MSU, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, the Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit and The Detroit Jewish News.

Generously sponsored by Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, Margie Dunn and Mark Davidoff, Howard J. Gourwitz,  Belle and Julius Harris Visiting Artist Fund established by Lauren Julius Harris, Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Fund in Jewish Arts & Music, Sue and Alan Kaufman, Iris and Stephen Linder, Rebecca and Alan Ross, Elaine and Michael Serling/The Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, Drs. Lou A. and Roy J. Simon, Linn Van Dyne and Mike Knox, Jeff D. Williams, and Andrea L. Wulf.

Dr. Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, College of Social Science, and affiliate of the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

Dr. Kevin Bartig, Associate Professor of Musicology, MSU College of Music

Dr. Amy Simon, William and Audrey Farber Family Chair in Holocaust Studies and European Jewish History; Assistant Professor, James Madison College, Department of History; and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

In 1945 the diary of Polish teenager Rywka Lipszyc was discovered amid the rubble of the recently liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It was written during Rywka’s time in the Łodz ghetto and provides poignant reflections on her life and experiences in the years 1943 and 1944. This presentation explores the historical context within which Rywka’s diary was written – focusing on the organizational structure of the Łodz ghetto and the nature of life there under Nazi rule – while also reflecting on broader themes raised by Rywka’s compelling narrative and on the continuing importance of such first-person accounts in deepening our understanding of victims’ experiences.

Derek Hastings received his PhD in modern European history from the University of Chicago and is currently Associate Professor of History at Oakland University.  He is the author of Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Nationalism in Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018).

Thank you to our Community Partner: Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement, Oakland University

During WWII, a handpicked group of GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission: use special effects to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American troops.  Rick Beyer brings this incredible true story to life.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Detroit VA Health Care System, Yankee Air Museum and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States – Department of Michigan.

After the Nazis murder her family, 12-year-old Sara Guralnik flees to the Ukrainian countryside and assumes the identity of her Christian best friend. She lives by her wits as a farmhouse maid, where one slip of her tongue could mean her life. The award-winning film My Name Is Sara tells the true story of her bravery, strength and survival. Watch it online, on-demand from Thursday, July 15- Sunday, July 18 at holocaustcenter.org. Then join us on July 18 for a discussion with Sara’s son and Executive Producer Mickey Shapiro, Director Steven Oritt and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Congregation Beth Ahm.

Evil Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele was the embodiment of bloodless efficiency and passionate devotion to a grotesque worldview. Author David Marwell will discuss Mengele’s twisted career and his escape to South America.

To order a copy of Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death’ by David Marwell, click here.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State University School of Medicine and Wayne State University College of Nursing.

Learn about the Jews who escaped to India and Iran after 1933. On the margins of the Holocaust and anxious about their families’ fates, they were homeless and stateless, but also oddly privileged as adventurous Europeans in non-western societies. Our speaker, Atina Grossmann, is Professor of History at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Thank you to our Community Partners: India League of America – Michigan and the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

Watch acclaimed French violinist Arnaud Sussmann and Dave Wagner, Program Director and host of WRCJ 90.9 FM discuss his Holocaust-inspired recital. Arnaud regularly graces the world’s stages as a soloist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The special program performed on June 8 for the Holocaust Memorial Center was inspired by his grandfather’s survival of Auschwitz-Birkenau. To honor the memories of those lost, Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Michael Brown performed works of Jewish composers whose lives were directly impacted by WWII, including Robert Dauber, Pavel Haas, and Erwin Schulhoff. Learn more about Sussman’s music and family by clicking the arrow above.

Arnaud’s program pays homage to his grandfather, Jacques Sussmann, who was a Holocaust survivor. Watch the video below to hear Arnaud share his grandfather’s story of surviving Auschwitz.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Hour Detroit Magazine, Detroit Public TV/ WRCJ 90.9 FM and Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies.

After nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. government is engaged in talks with the Taliban as part of an effort to forge a peace settlement and wind down U.S. military commitment. Within Afghanistan, government officials and ordinary citizens are fearful that an American exit could leave a beleaguered population at the mercy of the Taliban. How can the U.S. avoid a repeat of the 1975 Indochina withdrawal, which contributed to the rise of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime? Associate Professor of Public Policy, John D. Ciorciari, will discuss the ways in which governments and ordinary citizens can help reduce the risk of genocide.

For Professor Ciorciari’s suggestions for how you can help and his links to agencies and projects in Afghanistan: Click Here

Thank you to our Community Partners, the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the Donia Human Rights Center at the University of Michigan.

To download a program for the commemoration, click here. 

Presented in cooperation with C.H.A.I.M.-Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan, Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University, Michigan Jewish Conference, Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life, The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization, and The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

As part of the 2021 Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe, thousands of women fought with defiance and dignity to save themselves and others. Be inspired by the courageous choices and words of female leaders in rescue and resistance movements. Our speaker, Dr. Lori Weintrob, is Professor of History and Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center in Staten Island, NY.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan.

Pen and Pistol Program

A virtual program featuring Sarah Megan Thomas, the film’s screenwriter, actor and producer; Craig Gralley, author of Hall of Mirrors – Virginia Hall: America’s Greatest Spy of WWII; and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer in partnership with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from Mean Streets Management.

Synopsis of A Call to Spy: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency to recruit and train an army of female spies to infiltrate Europe and help build the French Resistance against the Nazi regime. Inspired by true events and the stories of Virginia Hall, Vera Atkins and Noor Inayat Khan. Vera Atkins, was Jewish and faced anti-Semitism in London while working for the SOE, British intelligence.

A special thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Jewish Film Festival and Greater Farmington Film Festival.

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism and slavery, what can we learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past? Philosopher and author Susan Neiman and National Public Radio (NPR) 1A host Jenn White will discuss Germany’s effort to atone for the Holocaust and the work that contemporary Americans are doing to try to make amends for our country’s historical wrongdoings.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, and Detroit Public Television.

The Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China, are being persecuted by the Chinese government with incarceration in concentration camps, forced sterilization, mass disappearances, and the destruction of their culture. Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide, discusses the efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable.

Thank you to our community partners: the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children and the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC)

Medical professionals played an integral role in the planning and implementation of Nazi racial policy. Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, senior historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will discuss how medical professionals enforced policies of compulsory sterilization, as well as the “Euthanasia” program. Through these legalized programs, the Nazis murdered 650,000 people and set an important precedent for the Holocaust.

Thank you to our community partner the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

The Soap Myth Play

The Soap Myth virtual discussion

Remembering Kristallnacht: An interview with Henry and Rosie Baum (Monday, Nov. 9)

Krakow, one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in Poland before WWII, is rich in Jewish history. In spite of a resurgence of antisemitism throughout Europe, Krakow’s Jewish community continues to grow and thrive.

Panelists were Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue; Gail Offen, a child of a Shoah survivor from Krakow; and Jessica Katz, 2019 Ralph I. Goldman Fellow for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Author and journalist Helen Epstein discussed her mother’s powerful memoir, the testimony of an incredibly strong young woman who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and survived. Franci Rabinek was a Prague dress designer when the war began. She lied to Dr. Mengele at her Auschwitz selection, saying she was an electrician, an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. Her memoir gives an intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends.

An online Film and Conversation with Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin

Three years ago white supremacists came to Charlottesville chanting neo-Nazi slogans and rallying just outside the city’s only synagogue. Since then, members of Charlottesville’s Jewish community have been on a journey against hate. At times, the journey required self-reflection. At times, it required communal action. But no matter what form it took, Charlottesville’s Jews found that standing up for themselves meant standing up for justice in the broader community.

Documentary short Reawakening recounts their journey. Through interviews with rabbis and congregants, the film explores how the white supremacy they experienced transformed their understanding of themselves and their city — and how it intensified their commitment to racial justice.

Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin served as associate rabbi for Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel from 2016-2020. During her time in Charlottesville she was active in Charlottesville’s interfaith and social justice community. Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz is a former Senior Producer at CNN International covering business and economics. She now works as a writer, director, and producer of documentary shorts for non-profits, often on subjects related to Judaism.

A very special thank you to our program supporters:

World-renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum interviewed Dr. Guy Stern in an online Zoom webinar about Guy’s remarkable life and his new memoir. Born in Germany, Guy was the only one in his family to escape from the Holocaust. He landed in Normandy 3 days after D-Day as a member of a special military intelligence unit and earned a Bronze Star Medal for his work interrogating German prisoners of war. Today, Guy is the HMC’s Director of the Harry and Wanda Zekelman International Institute of the Righteous and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University.

• To purchase Invisible Ink, email andrea.moellering@holocaustcenter.org.

Dr. Stern’s memoir Invisible Ink is published by Wayne State University Press.

A hidden child during the Holocaust, Miriam was smuggled as an infant out of the Srodula ghetto by a righteous gentile couple who adopted her. Her immediate family perished in the Holocaust and Miriam learned that she was Jewish when she was 16 years old.

Yiddish literature grappled with the questions the Holocaust raised for the Jews and the wider world. How did they understand what was happening? What did it mean to be “the chosen people?” Were the promises of the Enlightenment—liberty, equality, fraternity—now at an end for Jews? In this lecture, Dr. Anita Norich discusses a range of Yiddish literary responses to these questions in an online Zoom Webinar.

Thank you to our program supporters: Robin & Leo Eisenberg, Gerald & Betsy (z”l) Loomus, Denise & Peter Rodgers, Shelley & Joel Tauber and the PNC Foundation.

On the 60th anniversary of the the Israeli secret mission to capture the architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, the Holocaust Memorial Center hosted our first Facebook Live event featuring New York Times Best-Selling Author Neal Bascomb and moderated by Multimedia Journalist and former WXYZ TV 7 anchor Stephen Clark.

Click here to view the recording of the event.

The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus hosted its annual community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sun. April 26 at 2 pm. For the first time, the Holocaust Memorial Center’s Yom HaShoah commemoration was hosted online while the museum is closed to the public in accordance with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.

Board member Steven R. Weisberg offered opening remarks, while Rabbi Yonatan Dahlen and Hazzan David Propis of Shaarey Zedek led the commemoration.

As part of this 2020’s Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Click here to see a list of everyone who sent in videos for this special project to perpetuate the memory of the Six Million, and see below to watch the entire program.

Avner Avraham, Shula Bahat and Patrick Gallagher join the Holocaust Memorial Center to kick off the “Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann” exhibit’s last stop in the United States.

MUSIC FROM AUSCHWITZ: A CONCERT

Silent for more than 70 years, the voices and stirring melodies of those imprisoned at Auschwitz will be brought to life. A University of Michigan student orchestra, led by conductor Oriol Sans, will present tangos, waltzes, and foxtrots, interspersed with readings of the prisoners’ own words.

The concert will feature musical pieces arranged by Polish political prisoners, who were members of the men’s orchestra in the Auschwitz I camp, for a dance band that played Sunday concerts for the Auschwitz garrison near the camp commandant’s villa. The pieces were recently rediscovered in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PROGRAM BOOKLET

Presented in Cooperation with
C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust –Survivors Association In Michigan
Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan
Michigan Jewish Conference
Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life
The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

“DEFEATING NAZIS IN COURT – THE CHARLOTTESVILLE TRIAL” WITH AMY SPITALNICK

The six triple eight

In February 1945, the Allied Forces were winning WWII and liberating the concentration camps. But the U.S. troops and their families weren’t getting their mail. Enter the only all-black Women’s Army Corps battalion to serve in Europe during WWII, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion or Six Triple Eight. Despite facing racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, the women served with honor, clearing 17 million backlogged letters. They were never fully recognized…until now.

This program is co-presented by Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

75 years of Holocaust Cinema

Wednesday, February 23 at 7:00 PM EST on ZOOM

Learn about Holocaust films from cinema expert Rich Brownstein. There are hundreds, in dozens of languages, from more than 40 countries. They include
drama, melodrama, docudrama, comedy, farce, science fiction, time travel, live-action and animation. Rich Brownstein has lectured at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem since 2014, specializing in the history and pedagogy of Holocaust films. His new book, Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide, was just published by McFarland Press.

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS OF THE VILNA GHETTO: A STORY OF MORAL RESISTANCE

In Vilna, the city Jews called “The Jerusalem of Lithuania,” a group of ghetto inmates risked their lives during World War II to rescue thousands of rare books, documents, and works of art from the Nazis. In an operation that lasted eighteen months, they smuggled the materials past guards and buried them in bunkers. Those members of the group who survived the War returned after Vilna’s liberation and dug up the materials. They eventually smuggled the books across Europe until they reached the United States and Israel. What did they rescue, and why did they do it?

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, author Dr. David E. Fishman will discuss the incredible story he wrote about in The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, and the exhibit based on his book.

LEARNING FROM OUR PARENTS’ PAST TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE

Rabbi Hanoch Teller, globetrotting storyteller extraordinaire and the son of a Holocaust survivor, has lectured before audiences on five continents, in 40 American states and 24 other countries. His presentations – imbued with joy and drama, laughter and pathos – provide a one-of-a-kind experience for listeners young and old. Through stories of personal encounters, and by identifying the failures of bystanders, he portrays the lessons of the Holocaust in relatable ways that empower contemporary audiences. Admission is $10, or free with membership.

The documentary film We Shall Not Die Now explores the tragedy and lessons of the Holocaust and the resilience of its survivors. Filmed through the country of Poland at all of the major camps, landmarks and cities, it features over 25 survivors, liberators and scholars.

Ashton Gleckman is a 21-year-old composer, producer, and filmmaker from Carmel, Indiana. He has released a feature-length documentary film and  five albums, written and directed five short films, composed scores for a number of productions, and has also produced over thirty hours of online video tutorial content.

Zlata Filipovic grew up under one of the longest sieges in modern-day history in her native city of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hear the fascinating story of her wartime childhood, the publication of her diary, and how they led to her current engagement with human rights and storytelling.

Zlata is the author of the international bestseller Zlata’s Diary, the co-editor of Stolen Voices: Young People’s War Diaries form WWI to Iraq, and a documentary filmmaker.

To order your copy of Stolen Voices or Zlata’s Diary from the HMC Billes Museum Shop, please click here.

Thank you to our Community Partner: the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

September 2021 marks the 80^th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, which occurred on September 29-30, 1941. On the evening of September 29 almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly rounded up and shot over two days at Babi Yar, a ravine that was then located on the outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This horrific massacre became a symbol of the Holocaust by bullets, the mass shootings carried out in Eastern Europe by the Nazis.

To observe this anniversary, the Holocaust Memorial Center is honored to rebroadcast the 2019 concert Shostakovich Babi Yar Remembering the Holocaust performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles.  This performance features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) and selections from Charles Davidson’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Presented by the Michigan State University College of Music and The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at MSU, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, the Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit and The Detroit Jewish News.

Generously sponsored by Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, Margie Dunn and Mark Davidoff, Howard J. Gourwitz,  Belle and Julius Harris Visiting Artist Fund established by Lauren Julius Harris, Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Fund in Jewish Arts & Music, Sue and Alan Kaufman, Iris and Stephen Linder, Rebecca and Alan Ross, Elaine and Michael Serling/The Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, Drs. Lou A. and Roy J. Simon, Linn Van Dyne and Mike Knox, Jeff D. Williams, and Andrea L. Wulf.

Dr. Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, College of Social Science, and affiliate of the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

Dr. Kevin Bartig, Associate Professor of Musicology, MSU College of Music

Dr. Amy Simon, William and Audrey Farber Family Chair in Holocaust Studies and European Jewish History; Assistant Professor, James Madison College, Department of History; and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

In 1945 the diary of Polish teenager Rywka Lipszyc was discovered amid the rubble of the recently liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It was written during Rywka’s time in the Łodz ghetto and provides poignant reflections on her life and experiences in the years 1943 and 1944. This presentation explores the historical context within which Rywka’s diary was written – focusing on the organizational structure of the Łodz ghetto and the nature of life there under Nazi rule – while also reflecting on broader themes raised by Rywka’s compelling narrative and on the continuing importance of such first-person accounts in deepening our understanding of victims’ experiences.

Derek Hastings received his PhD in modern European history from the University of Chicago and is currently Associate Professor of History at Oakland University.  He is the author of Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Nationalism in Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018).

Thank you to our Community Partner: Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement, Oakland University

During WWII, a handpicked group of GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission: use special effects to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American troops.  Rick Beyer brings this incredible true story to life.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Detroit VA Health Care System, Yankee Air Museum and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States – Department of Michigan.

After the Nazis murder her family, 12-year-old Sara Guralnik flees to the Ukrainian countryside and assumes the identity of her Christian best friend. She lives by her wits as a farmhouse maid, where one slip of her tongue could mean her life. The award-winning film My Name Is Sara tells the true story of her bravery, strength and survival. Watch it online, on-demand from Thursday, July 15- Sunday, July 18 at holocaustcenter.org. Then join us on July 18 for a discussion with Sara’s son and Executive Producer Mickey Shapiro, Director Steven Oritt and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Congregation Beth Ahm.

Evil Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele was the embodiment of bloodless efficiency and passionate devotion to a grotesque worldview. Author David Marwell will discuss Mengele’s twisted career and his escape to South America.

To order a copy of Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death’ by David Marwell, click here.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State University School of Medicine and Wayne State University College of Nursing.

Learn about the Jews who escaped to India and Iran after 1933. On the margins of the Holocaust and anxious about their families’ fates, they were homeless and stateless, but also oddly privileged as adventurous Europeans in non-western societies. Our speaker, Atina Grossmann, is Professor of History at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Thank you to our Community Partners: India League of America – Michigan and the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

Watch acclaimed French violinist Arnaud Sussmann and Dave Wagner, Program Director and host of WRCJ 90.9 FM discuss his Holocaust-inspired recital. Arnaud regularly graces the world’s stages as a soloist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The special program performed on June 8 for the Holocaust Memorial Center was inspired by his grandfather’s survival of Auschwitz-Birkenau. To honor the memories of those lost, Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Michael Brown performed works of Jewish composers whose lives were directly impacted by WWII, including Robert Dauber, Pavel Haas, and Erwin Schulhoff. Learn more about Sussman’s music and family by clicking the arrow above.

Arnaud’s program pays homage to his grandfather, Jacques Sussmann, who was a Holocaust survivor. Watch the video below to hear Arnaud share his grandfather’s story of surviving Auschwitz.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Hour Detroit Magazine, Detroit Public TV/ WRCJ 90.9 FM and Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies.

After nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. government is engaged in talks with the Taliban as part of an effort to forge a peace settlement and wind down U.S. military commitment. Within Afghanistan, government officials and ordinary citizens are fearful that an American exit could leave a beleaguered population at the mercy of the Taliban. How can the U.S. avoid a repeat of the 1975 Indochina withdrawal, which contributed to the rise of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime? Associate Professor of Public Policy, John D. Ciorciari, will discuss the ways in which governments and ordinary citizens can help reduce the risk of genocide.

For Professor Ciorciari’s suggestions for how you can help and his links to agencies and projects in Afghanistan: Click Here

Thank you to our Community Partners, the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the Donia Human Rights Center at the University of Michigan.

To download a program for the commemoration, click here. 

Presented in cooperation with C.H.A.I.M.-Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan, Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University, Michigan Jewish Conference, Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life, The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization, and The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

As part of the 2021 Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe, thousands of women fought with defiance and dignity to save themselves and others. Be inspired by the courageous choices and words of female leaders in rescue and resistance movements. Our speaker, Dr. Lori Weintrob, is Professor of History and Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center in Staten Island, NY.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan.

Pen and Pistol Program

A virtual program featuring Sarah Megan Thomas, the film’s screenwriter, actor and producer; Craig Gralley, author of Hall of Mirrors – Virginia Hall: America’s Greatest Spy of WWII; and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer in partnership with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from Mean Streets Management.

Synopsis of A Call to Spy: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency to recruit and train an army of female spies to infiltrate Europe and help build the French Resistance against the Nazi regime. Inspired by true events and the stories of Virginia Hall, Vera Atkins and Noor Inayat Khan. Vera Atkins, was Jewish and faced anti-Semitism in London while working for the SOE, British intelligence.

A special thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Jewish Film Festival and Greater Farmington Film Festival.

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism and slavery, what can we learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past? Philosopher and author Susan Neiman and National Public Radio (NPR) 1A host Jenn White will discuss Germany’s effort to atone for the Holocaust and the work that contemporary Americans are doing to try to make amends for our country’s historical wrongdoings.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, and Detroit Public Television.

The Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China, are being persecuted by the Chinese government with incarceration in concentration camps, forced sterilization, mass disappearances, and the destruction of their culture. Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide, discusses the efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable.

Thank you to our community partners: the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children and the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC)

Medical professionals played an integral role in the planning and implementation of Nazi racial policy. Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, senior historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will discuss how medical professionals enforced policies of compulsory sterilization, as well as the “Euthanasia” program. Through these legalized programs, the Nazis murdered 650,000 people and set an important precedent for the Holocaust.

Thank you to our community partner the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

The Soap Myth Play

The Soap Myth virtual discussion

Remembering Kristallnacht: An interview with Henry and Rosie Baum (Monday, Nov. 9)

Krakow, one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in Poland before WWII, is rich in Jewish history. In spite of a resurgence of antisemitism throughout Europe, Krakow’s Jewish community continues to grow and thrive.

Panelists were Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue; Gail Offen, a child of a Shoah survivor from Krakow; and Jessica Katz, 2019 Ralph I. Goldman Fellow for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Author and journalist Helen Epstein discussed her mother’s powerful memoir, the testimony of an incredibly strong young woman who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and survived. Franci Rabinek was a Prague dress designer when the war began. She lied to Dr. Mengele at her Auschwitz selection, saying she was an electrician, an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. Her memoir gives an intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends.

An online Film and Conversation with Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin

Three years ago white supremacists came to Charlottesville chanting neo-Nazi slogans and rallying just outside the city’s only synagogue. Since then, members of Charlottesville’s Jewish community have been on a journey against hate. At times, the journey required self-reflection. At times, it required communal action. But no matter what form it took, Charlottesville’s Jews found that standing up for themselves meant standing up for justice in the broader community.

Documentary short Reawakening recounts their journey. Through interviews with rabbis and congregants, the film explores how the white supremacy they experienced transformed their understanding of themselves and their city — and how it intensified their commitment to racial justice.

Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin served as associate rabbi for Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel from 2016-2020. During her time in Charlottesville she was active in Charlottesville’s interfaith and social justice community. Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz is a former Senior Producer at CNN International covering business and economics. She now works as a writer, director, and producer of documentary shorts for non-profits, often on subjects related to Judaism.

A very special thank you to our program supporters:

World-renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum interviewed Dr. Guy Stern in an online Zoom webinar about Guy’s remarkable life and his new memoir. Born in Germany, Guy was the only one in his family to escape from the Holocaust. He landed in Normandy 3 days after D-Day as a member of a special military intelligence unit and earned a Bronze Star Medal for his work interrogating German prisoners of war. Today, Guy is the HMC’s Director of the Harry and Wanda Zekelman International Institute of the Righteous and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University.

• To purchase Invisible Ink, email andrea.moellering@holocaustcenter.org.

Dr. Stern’s memoir Invisible Ink is published by Wayne State University Press.

A hidden child during the Holocaust, Miriam was smuggled as an infant out of the Srodula ghetto by a righteous gentile couple who adopted her. Her immediate family perished in the Holocaust and Miriam learned that she was Jewish when she was 16 years old.

Yiddish literature grappled with the questions the Holocaust raised for the Jews and the wider world. How did they understand what was happening? What did it mean to be “the chosen people?” Were the promises of the Enlightenment—liberty, equality, fraternity—now at an end for Jews? In this lecture, Dr. Anita Norich discusses a range of Yiddish literary responses to these questions in an online Zoom Webinar.

Thank you to our program supporters: Robin & Leo Eisenberg, Gerald & Betsy (z”l) Loomus, Denise & Peter Rodgers, Shelley & Joel Tauber and the PNC Foundation.

On the 60th anniversary of the the Israeli secret mission to capture the architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, the Holocaust Memorial Center hosted our first Facebook Live event featuring New York Times Best-Selling Author Neal Bascomb and moderated by Multimedia Journalist and former WXYZ TV 7 anchor Stephen Clark.

Click here to view the recording of the event.

The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus hosted its annual community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sun. April 26 at 2 pm. For the first time, the Holocaust Memorial Center’s Yom HaShoah commemoration was hosted online while the museum is closed to the public in accordance with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.

Board member Steven R. Weisberg offered opening remarks, while Rabbi Yonatan Dahlen and Hazzan David Propis of Shaarey Zedek led the commemoration.

As part of this 2020’s Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Click here to see a list of everyone who sent in videos for this special project to perpetuate the memory of the Six Million, and see below to watch the entire program.

Avner Avraham, Shula Bahat and Patrick Gallagher join the Holocaust Memorial Center to kick off the “Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann” exhibit’s last stop in the United States.

“DEFEATING NAZIS IN COURT – THE CHARLOTTESVILLE TRIAL” WITH AMY SPITALNICK

The six triple eight

In February 1945, the Allied Forces were winning WWII and liberating the concentration camps. But the U.S. troops and their families weren’t getting their mail. Enter the only all-black Women’s Army Corps battalion to serve in Europe during WWII, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion or Six Triple Eight. Despite facing racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, the women served with honor, clearing 17 million backlogged letters. They were never fully recognized…until now.

This program is co-presented by Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

75 years of Holocaust Cinema

Wednesday, February 23 at 7:00 PM EST on ZOOM

Learn about Holocaust films from cinema expert Rich Brownstein. There are hundreds, in dozens of languages, from more than 40 countries. They include
drama, melodrama, docudrama, comedy, farce, science fiction, time travel, live-action and animation. Rich Brownstein has lectured at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem since 2014, specializing in the history and pedagogy of Holocaust films. His new book, Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide, was just published by McFarland Press.

THE BOOK SMUGGLERS OF THE VILNA GHETTO: A STORY OF MORAL RESISTANCE

In Vilna, the city Jews called “The Jerusalem of Lithuania,” a group of ghetto inmates risked their lives during World War II to rescue thousands of rare books, documents, and works of art from the Nazis. In an operation that lasted eighteen months, they smuggled the materials past guards and buried them in bunkers. Those members of the group who survived the War returned after Vilna’s liberation and dug up the materials. They eventually smuggled the books across Europe until they reached the United States and Israel. What did they rescue, and why did they do it?

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, author Dr. David E. Fishman will discuss the incredible story he wrote about in The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, and the exhibit based on his book.

LEARNING FROM OUR PARENTS’ PAST TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE

Rabbi Hanoch Teller, globetrotting storyteller extraordinaire and the son of a Holocaust survivor, has lectured before audiences on five continents, in 40 American states and 24 other countries. His presentations – imbued with joy and drama, laughter and pathos – provide a one-of-a-kind experience for listeners young and old. Through stories of personal encounters, and by identifying the failures of bystanders, he portrays the lessons of the Holocaust in relatable ways that empower contemporary audiences. Admission is $10, or free with membership.

The documentary film We Shall Not Die Now explores the tragedy and lessons of the Holocaust and the resilience of its survivors. Filmed through the country of Poland at all of the major camps, landmarks and cities, it features over 25 survivors, liberators and scholars.

Ashton Gleckman is a 21-year-old composer, producer, and filmmaker from Carmel, Indiana. He has released a feature-length documentary film and  five albums, written and directed five short films, composed scores for a number of productions, and has also produced over thirty hours of online video tutorial content.

Zlata Filipovic grew up under one of the longest sieges in modern-day history in her native city of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hear the fascinating story of her wartime childhood, the publication of her diary, and how they led to her current engagement with human rights and storytelling.

Zlata is the author of the international bestseller Zlata’s Diary, the co-editor of Stolen Voices: Young People’s War Diaries form WWI to Iraq, and a documentary filmmaker.

To order your copy of Stolen Voices or Zlata’s Diary from the HMC Billes Museum Shop, please click here.

Thank you to our Community Partner: the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

September 2021 marks the 80^th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, which occurred on September 29-30, 1941. On the evening of September 29 almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly rounded up and shot over two days at Babi Yar, a ravine that was then located on the outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This horrific massacre became a symbol of the Holocaust by bullets, the mass shootings carried out in Eastern Europe by the Nazis.

To observe this anniversary, the Holocaust Memorial Center is honored to rebroadcast the 2019 concert Shostakovich Babi Yar Remembering the Holocaust performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles.  This performance features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) and selections from Charles Davidson’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Presented by the Michigan State University College of Music and The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at MSU, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, the Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit and The Detroit Jewish News.

Generously sponsored by Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, Margie Dunn and Mark Davidoff, Howard J. Gourwitz,  Belle and Julius Harris Visiting Artist Fund established by Lauren Julius Harris, Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Fund in Jewish Arts & Music, Sue and Alan Kaufman, Iris and Stephen Linder, Rebecca and Alan Ross, Elaine and Michael Serling/The Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, Drs. Lou A. and Roy J. Simon, Linn Van Dyne and Mike Knox, Jeff D. Williams, and Andrea L. Wulf.

Dr. Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, College of Social Science, and affiliate of the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

Dr. Kevin Bartig, Associate Professor of Musicology, MSU College of Music

Dr. Amy Simon, William and Audrey Farber Family Chair in Holocaust Studies and European Jewish History; Assistant Professor, James Madison College, Department of History; and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel

In 1945 the diary of Polish teenager Rywka Lipszyc was discovered amid the rubble of the recently liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It was written during Rywka’s time in the Łodz ghetto and provides poignant reflections on her life and experiences in the years 1943 and 1944. This presentation explores the historical context within which Rywka’s diary was written – focusing on the organizational structure of the Łodz ghetto and the nature of life there under Nazi rule – while also reflecting on broader themes raised by Rywka’s compelling narrative and on the continuing importance of such first-person accounts in deepening our understanding of victims’ experiences.

Derek Hastings received his PhD in modern European history from the University of Chicago and is currently Associate Professor of History at Oakland University.  He is the author of Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Nationalism in Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018).

Thank you to our Community Partner: Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement, Oakland University

During WWII, a handpicked group of GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission: use special effects to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American troops.  Rick Beyer brings this incredible true story to life.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Detroit VA Health Care System, Yankee Air Museum and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States – Department of Michigan.

After the Nazis murder her family, 12-year-old Sara Guralnik flees to the Ukrainian countryside and assumes the identity of her Christian best friend. She lives by her wits as a farmhouse maid, where one slip of her tongue could mean her life. The award-winning film My Name Is Sara tells the true story of her bravery, strength and survival. Watch it online, on-demand from Thursday, July 15- Sunday, July 18 at holocaustcenter.org. Then join us on July 18 for a discussion with Sara’s son and Executive Producer Mickey Shapiro, Director Steven Oritt and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer.

Thank you to our Community Partner: Congregation Beth Ahm.

Evil Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele was the embodiment of bloodless efficiency and passionate devotion to a grotesque worldview. Author David Marwell will discuss Mengele’s twisted career and his escape to South America.

To order a copy of Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death’ by David Marwell, click here.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Wayne State University School of Medicine and Wayne State University College of Nursing.

Learn about the Jews who escaped to India and Iran after 1933. On the margins of the Holocaust and anxious about their families’ fates, they were homeless and stateless, but also oddly privileged as adventurous Europeans in non-western societies. Our speaker, Atina Grossmann, is Professor of History at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Thank you to our Community Partners: India League of America – Michigan and the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

Watch acclaimed French violinist Arnaud Sussmann and Dave Wagner, Program Director and host of WRCJ 90.9 FM discuss his Holocaust-inspired recital. Arnaud regularly graces the world’s stages as a soloist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The special program performed on June 8 for the Holocaust Memorial Center was inspired by his grandfather’s survival of Auschwitz-Birkenau. To honor the memories of those lost, Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Michael Brown performed works of Jewish composers whose lives were directly impacted by WWII, including Robert Dauber, Pavel Haas, and Erwin Schulhoff. Learn more about Sussman’s music and family by clicking the arrow above.

Arnaud’s program pays homage to his grandfather, Jacques Sussmann, who was a Holocaust survivor. Watch the video below to hear Arnaud share his grandfather’s story of surviving Auschwitz.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Hour Detroit Magazine, Detroit Public TV/ WRCJ 90.9 FM and Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies.

After nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. government is engaged in talks with the Taliban as part of an effort to forge a peace settlement and wind down U.S. military commitment. Within Afghanistan, government officials and ordinary citizens are fearful that an American exit could leave a beleaguered population at the mercy of the Taliban. How can the U.S. avoid a repeat of the 1975 Indochina withdrawal, which contributed to the rise of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime? Associate Professor of Public Policy, John D. Ciorciari, will discuss the ways in which governments and ordinary citizens can help reduce the risk of genocide.

For Professor Ciorciari’s suggestions for how you can help and his links to agencies and projects in Afghanistan: Click Here

Thank you to our Community Partners, the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the Donia Human Rights Center at the University of Michigan.

To download a program for the commemoration, click here. 

Presented in cooperation with C.H.A.I.M.-Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, Hidden Children and Child Survivors Association of Michigan, Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University, Michigan Jewish Conference, Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, a Service of Jewish Senior Life, The Shaarit Haplaytah Organization, and The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

As part of the 2021 Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe, thousands of women fought with defiance and dignity to save themselves and others. Be inspired by the courageous choices and words of female leaders in rescue and resistance movements. Our speaker, Dr. Lori Weintrob, is Professor of History and Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center in Staten Island, NY.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the University of Detroit Mercy Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan.

Pen and Pistol Program

A virtual program featuring Sarah Megan Thomas, the film’s screenwriter, actor and producer; Craig Gralley, author of Hall of Mirrors – Virginia Hall: America’s Greatest Spy of WWII; and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer in partnership with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from Mean Streets Management.

Synopsis of A Call to Spy: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency to recruit and train an army of female spies to infiltrate Europe and help build the French Resistance against the Nazi regime. Inspired by true events and the stories of Virginia Hall, Vera Atkins and Noor Inayat Khan. Vera Atkins, was Jewish and faced anti-Semitism in London while working for the SOE, British intelligence.

A special thank you to our Community Partners: Detroit Jewish Film Festival and Greater Farmington Film Festival.

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism and slavery, what can we learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past? Philosopher and author Susan Neiman and National Public Radio (NPR) 1A host Jenn White will discuss Germany’s effort to atone for the Holocaust and the work that contemporary Americans are doing to try to make amends for our country’s historical wrongdoings.

Thank you to our Community Partners: the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, and Detroit Public Television.

The Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China, are being persecuted by the Chinese government with incarceration in concentration camps, forced sterilization, mass disappearances, and the destruction of their culture. Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide, discusses the efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable.

Thank you to our community partners: the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children and the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC)

Medical professionals played an integral role in the planning and implementation of Nazi racial policy. Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, senior historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will discuss how medical professionals enforced policies of compulsory sterilization, as well as the “Euthanasia” program. Through these legalized programs, the Nazis murdered 650,000 people and set an important precedent for the Holocaust.

Thank you to our community partner the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive.

The Soap Myth Play

The Soap Myth virtual discussion

Remembering Kristallnacht: An interview with Henry and Rosie Baum (Monday, Nov. 9)

Krakow, one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in Poland before WWII, is rich in Jewish history. In spite of a resurgence of antisemitism throughout Europe, Krakow’s Jewish community continues to grow and thrive.

Panelists were Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue; Gail Offen, a child of a Shoah survivor from Krakow; and Jessica Katz, 2019 Ralph I. Goldman Fellow for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Author and journalist Helen Epstein discussed her mother’s powerful memoir, the testimony of an incredibly strong young woman who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and survived. Franci Rabinek was a Prague dress designer when the war began. She lied to Dr. Mengele at her Auschwitz selection, saying she was an electrician, an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. Her memoir gives an intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends.

An online Film and Conversation with Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz and Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin

Three years ago white supremacists came to Charlottesville chanting neo-Nazi slogans and rallying just outside the city’s only synagogue. Since then, members of Charlottesville’s Jewish community have been on a journey against hate. At times, the journey required self-reflection. At times, it required communal action. But no matter what form it took, Charlottesville’s Jews found that standing up for themselves meant standing up for justice in the broader community.

Documentary short Reawakening recounts their journey. Through interviews with rabbis and congregants, the film explores how the white supremacy they experienced transformed their understanding of themselves and their city — and how it intensified their commitment to racial justice.

Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin served as associate rabbi for Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel from 2016-2020. During her time in Charlottesville she was active in Charlottesville’s interfaith and social justice community. Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz is a former Senior Producer at CNN International covering business and economics. She now works as a writer, director, and producer of documentary shorts for non-profits, often on subjects related to Judaism.

A very special thank you to our program supporters:

World-renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum interviewed Dr. Guy Stern in an online Zoom webinar about Guy’s remarkable life and his new memoir. Born in Germany, Guy was the only one in his family to escape from the Holocaust. He landed in Normandy 3 days after D-Day as a member of a special military intelligence unit and earned a Bronze Star Medal for his work interrogating German prisoners of war. Today, Guy is the HMC’s Director of the Harry and Wanda Zekelman International Institute of the Righteous and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University.

• To purchase Invisible Ink, email andrea.moellering@holocaustcenter.org.

Dr. Stern’s memoir Invisible Ink is published by Wayne State University Press.

A hidden child during the Holocaust, Miriam was smuggled as an infant out of the Srodula ghetto by a righteous gentile couple who adopted her. Her immediate family perished in the Holocaust and Miriam learned that she was Jewish when she was 16 years old.

Yiddish literature grappled with the questions the Holocaust raised for the Jews and the wider world. How did they understand what was happening? What did it mean to be “the chosen people?” Were the promises of the Enlightenment—liberty, equality, fraternity—now at an end for Jews? In this lecture, Dr. Anita Norich discusses a range of Yiddish literary responses to these questions in an online Zoom Webinar.

Thank you to our program supporters: Robin & Leo Eisenberg, Gerald & Betsy (z”l) Loomus, Denise & Peter Rodgers, Shelley & Joel Tauber and the PNC Foundation.

On the 60th anniversary of the the Israeli secret mission to capture the architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, the Holocaust Memorial Center hosted our first Facebook Live event featuring New York Times Best-Selling Author Neal Bascomb and moderated by Multimedia Journalist and former WXYZ TV 7 anchor Stephen Clark.

Click here to view the recording of the event.

The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus hosted its annual community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sun. April 26 at 2 pm. For the first time, the Holocaust Memorial Center’s Yom HaShoah commemoration was hosted online while the museum is closed to the public in accordance with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.

Board member Steven R. Weisberg offered opening remarks, while Rabbi Yonatan Dahlen and Hazzan David Propis of Shaarey Zedek led the commemoration.

As part of this 2020’s Yom HaShoah commemoration, the Holocaust Memorial Center continues our tradition of participating in “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” in a new, innovative way. Volunteers sent videos of themselves reading the names of Holocaust victims from their homes. Thank you to all of our volunteers for working together with us to ensure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Click here to see a list of everyone who sent in videos for this special project to perpetuate the memory of the Six Million, and see below to watch the entire program.

Avner Avraham, Shula Bahat and Patrick Gallagher join the Holocaust Memorial Center to kick off the “Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann” exhibit’s last stop in the United States.