Americans and the Holocaust
Visit The Library Center June 15-July 27 for Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association that examines Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. What did Americans know, and what more could have been done?
Americans and the Holocaust: A Traveling Exhibition for Libraries is made possible by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association.
Americans and the Holocaust was made possible by the generous support of lead sponsor Jeannie & Jonathan Lavine. Additional major funding was provided by the Bildners — Joan & Allen z”l, Elisa Spungen & Rob, Nancy & Jim; and Jane and Daniel Och. The Museum's exhibitions are also supported by the Lester Robbins and Sheila Johnson Robbins Traveling and Special Exhibitions Fund, established in 1990.
This Year's Featured Titles
Springfield Jewish Response to the Holocaust
Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides
Tuesday, June 16, 7 p.m., Missouri State University Meyer Library, Room 107
Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides will examine how Springfield’s Jewish community responded to news of the destruction of the Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Europe. Through sharing the community’s calls to action, demands of the local non-Jewish population, and postwar assistance to European Jews, the Jews of Springfield helped shape interfaith responses that continue today.
The Wounds We Inherit
Erika Schwartz
Tuesday, June 23, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Witness a Holocaust survivor’s journey through family loss, intergenerational trauma and turning deep pain into strength, healing and hope. Erika Schwartz was born in spring 1944 in Nazi-occupied Hungary; she and her mother were the only survivors of her mother’s family. Erika reminds us that the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis were six million individuals, each loved and remembered, and that this is not ancient history. Her message of hope resonates: "Our lives don't have to be defined by our circumstances."
Americans and the Holocaust: What did Americans Know?
Daniel Greene
Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
What did Americans know about the dangers of Nazism, and when did they know it? Explore these questions and more as historian Daniel Greene examines the U.S. public's response to Nazism. He will look at domestic conditions — including economic depression, isolationism and antisemitism — that shaped Americans' reactions to atrocities abroad, and why rescuing Europe’s Jews never became a priority for the government or most Americans.
The Making of Magneto: How the Holocaust Redefined X-History
Dr. Rodney Fierce
Tuesday, June 30, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Dr. Rodney Fierce, a humanities teacher at Sonoma Academy, explores Marvel comics and how the Holocaust shaped the character Magneto. Introduced in X-Men #1 in 1963, later comic arcs reveal his past and how it influenced his actions. Fierce will lead a discussion on how Magneto’s history reflects trauma and how X-Men used pop culture to broaden understanding of the Holocaust for younger audiences.
Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides
Tuesday, June 16, 7 p.m., Missouri State University Meyer Library, Room 107
Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides will examine how Springfield’s Jewish community responded to news of the destruction of the Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Europe. Through sharing the community’s calls to action, demands of the local non-Jewish population, and postwar assistance to European Jews, the Jews of Springfield helped shape interfaith responses that continue today.
Erika Schwartz
Tuesday, June 23, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Witness a Holocaust survivor’s journey through family loss, intergenerational trauma and turning deep pain into strength, healing and hope. Erika Schwartz was born in spring 1944 in Nazi-occupied Hungary; she and her mother were the only survivors of her mother’s family. Erika reminds us that the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis were six million individuals, each loved and remembered, and that this is not ancient history. Her message of hope resonates: "Our lives don't have to be defined by our circumstances."
Daniel Greene
Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
What did Americans know about the dangers of Nazism, and when did they know it? Explore these questions and more as historian Daniel Greene examines the U.S. public's response to Nazism. He will look at domestic conditions — including economic depression, isolationism and antisemitism — that shaped Americans' reactions to atrocities abroad, and why rescuing Europe’s Jews never became a priority for the government or most Americans.
Dr. Rodney Fierce
Tuesday, June 30, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Dr. Rodney Fierce, a humanities teacher at Sonoma Academy, explores Marvel comics and how the Holocaust shaped the character Magneto. Introduced in X-Men #1 in 1963, later comic arcs reveal his past and how it influenced his actions. Fierce will lead a discussion on how Magneto’s history reflects trauma and how X-Men used pop culture to broaden understanding of the Holocaust for younger audiences.
John C. McManus
Thursday, July 9, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
John C. McManus, Curators' Distinguished Professor of History at Missouri S&T, will shed new light on an often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust, giving voice to the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.
Todd Knowles
Tuesday, July 14, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Todd Knowles, deputy chief genealogical officer at FamilySearch, discovered his Jewish roots at an early age. Since then, he has helped build a collection of genealogical records for nearly 1.5 million Polish Jews. Todd will demonstrate FamilySearch’s new AI tools to reconstruct the Jewish community of Fordon, Poland, destroyed during the Holocaust, and help attendees locate records of their Jewish ancestors. Sponsored by FamilySearch and the Ozarks Genealogical Society. Registration required.
Dr. Sarah Panzer
Tuesday, July 21, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Nazi Germany is often depicted in American popular culture as monstrous or a historical abnormality. Yet Nazism reflected extreme versions of policies and ideas found in other Western countries, including the United States. Dr. Sarah Panzer of Missouri State University will explore how Nazi ideology and propaganda evolved, was inspired by similar policies in other countries, and spread beyond Germany to shape race, eugenics, immigration and imperial expansion.
Sharon Cameron
Thursday, July 23, 7-9 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Come together to hear Sharon Cameron discuss her novel "The Light in Hidden Places." Set in 1943, 16-year-old Stefania has worked four years in the Diamant family’s grocery store and secretly promised betrothal to one of their sons, though she is Catholic and they are Jewish. Based on the true story of Stefania Podgórska, learn how a brave young woman risked everything to shelter 13 Jews in her attic during World War II. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Springfield Jewish Response to the Holocaust
Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides
Tuesday, June 16, 7 p.m., Missouri State University Meyer Library, Room 107
Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides will examine how Springfield’s Jewish community responded to news of the destruction of the Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Europe. Through sharing the community’s calls to action, demands of the local non-Jewish population, and postwar assistance to European Jews, the Jews of Springfield helped shape interfaith responses that continue today.
The Wounds We Inherit
Erika Schwartz
Tuesday, June 23, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Witness a Holocaust survivor’s journey through family loss, intergenerational trauma and turning deep pain into strength, healing and hope. Erika Schwartz was born in spring 1944 in Nazi-occupied Hungary; she and her mother were the only survivors of her mother’s family. Erika reminds us that the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis were six million individuals, each loved and remembered, and that this is not ancient history. Her message of hope resonates: "Our lives don't have to be defined by our circumstances."
Americans and the Holocaust: What did Americans Know?
Daniel Greene
Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
What did Americans know about the dangers of Nazism, and when did they know it? Explore these questions and more as historian Daniel Greene examines the U.S. public's response to Nazism. He will look at domestic conditions — including economic depression, isolationism and antisemitism — that shaped Americans' reactions to atrocities abroad, and why rescuing Europe’s Jews never became a priority for the government or most Americans.
The Making of Magneto: How the Holocaust Redefined X-History
Dr. Rodney Fierce
Tuesday, June 30, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Dr. Rodney Fierce, a humanities teacher at Sonoma Academy, explores Marvel comics and how the Holocaust shaped the character Magneto. Introduced in X-Men #1 in 1963, later comic arcs reveal his past and how it influenced his actions. Fierce will lead a discussion on how Magneto’s history reflects trauma and how X-Men used pop culture to broaden understanding of the Holocaust for younger audiences.
Hell Before Their Very Eyes
John C. McManus
Thursday, July 9, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
John C. McManus, Curators' Distinguished Professor of History at Missouri S&T, will shed new light on an often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust, giving voice to the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.
Using FamilySearch for Jewish Research
Todd Knowles
Tuesday, July 14, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Todd Knowles, deputy chief genealogical officer at FamilySearch, discovered his Jewish roots at an early age. Since then, he has helped build a collection of genealogical records for nearly 1.5 million Polish Jews. Todd will demonstrate FamilySearch’s new AI tools to reconstruct the Jewish community of Fordon, Poland, destroyed during the Holocaust, and help attendees locate records of their Jewish ancestors. Sponsored by FamilySearch and the Ozarks Genealogical Society. Registration required.
Nazi Germany and the Global Politics of Race and Space
Dr. Sarah Panzer
Tuesday, July 21, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Nazi Germany is often depicted in American popular culture as monstrous or a historical abnormality. Yet Nazism reflected extreme versions of policies and ideas found in other Western countries, including the United States. Dr. Sarah Panzer of Missouri State University will explore how Nazi ideology and propaganda evolved, was inspired by similar policies in other countries, and spread beyond Germany to shape race, eugenics, immigration and imperial expansion.
A Conversation With Sharon Cameron
Sharon Cameron
Thursday, July 23, 7-9 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Come together to hear Sharon Cameron discuss her novel "The Light in Hidden Places." Set in 1943, 16-year-old Stefania has worked four years in the Diamant family’s grocery store and secretly promised betrothal to one of their sons, though she is Catholic and they are Jewish. Based on the true story of Stefania Podgórska, learn how a brave young woman risked everything to shelter 13 Jews in her attic during World War II. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Hell Before Their Very Eyes
John C. McManus
Thursday, July 9, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
John C. McManus, Curators' Distinguished Professor of History at Missouri S&T, will shed new light on an often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust, giving voice to the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.
Using FamilySearch for Jewish Research
Todd Knowles
Tuesday, July 14, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Todd Knowles, deputy chief genealogical officer at FamilySearch, discovered his Jewish roots at an early age. Since then, he has helped build a collection of genealogical records for nearly 1.5 million Polish Jews. Todd will demonstrate FamilySearch’s new AI tools to reconstruct the Jewish community of Fordon, Poland, destroyed during the Holocaust, and help attendees locate records of their Jewish ancestors. Sponsored by FamilySearch and the Ozarks Genealogical Society. Registration required.
Nazi Germany and the Global Politics of Race and Space
Dr. Sarah Panzer
Tuesday, July 21, 7 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Nazi Germany is often depicted in American popular culture as monstrous or a historical abnormality. Yet Nazism reflected extreme versions of policies and ideas found in other Western countries, including the United States. Dr. Sarah Panzer of Missouri State University will explore how Nazi ideology and propaganda evolved, was inspired by similar policies in other countries, and spread beyond Germany to shape race, eugenics, immigration and imperial expansion.
A Conversation With Sharon Cameron
Sharon Cameron
Thursday, July 23, 7-9 p.m., Library Center Hatch Auditorium
Come together to hear Sharon Cameron discuss her novel "The Light in Hidden Places." Set in 1943, 16-year-old Stefania has worked four years in the Diamant family’s grocery store and secretly promised betrothal to one of their sons, though she is Catholic and they are Jewish. Based on the true story of Stefania Podgórska, learn how a brave young woman risked everything to shelter 13 Jews in her attic during World War II. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
