ABOUT THE EVENT. Antisemitism is often called history’s oldest hatred and the Holocaust is its worst and most horrific example. Nobel Prize winner, Elie Wiesel, coined the phrase “Remembering for the Future” as a motto to describe the twin responsibilities for the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The first purpose of the Museum is to look back at the history of the Holocaust and remember its victims in order to avoid, in the words of Wiesel, “killing them a second time.”
But the murder of over six million Jews and five million others did not begin with concentration camps and ovens. The dehumanizing degradations and persecutions of Jews in the years leading up to the mass murder of two-thirds of all Jews in Europe were largely known to American politicians and the public. What did Americans know, when did they know it, and what were the range of responses to the threat of Nazism? The future focused purpose of the Museum and this traveling exhibit is to use the lessons of the past to help shape a more tolerant and compassionate future.
Join us for an engaging conversation with, Father John Pawlikowski and Scott Levin, two nationally recognized experts as they guide us to a better understanding of our current situation and the recent rise in antisemitism. We can learn from our collective moral failures during the Nazi era about how to combat the new surge of antisemitism and other forms of hatred and genocide in contemporary society.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT. Pikes Peak Library District will host a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Americans and the Holocaust, that examines the motives, pressures, and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war, and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. The PPLD is honored to be selected as one of 50 U.S. libraries to present the touring version of the Americans and the Holocaust special exhibition, which opened in April 2018 at the Museum in Washington, D.C., during the Museum’s 25th anniversary. FREE self-guided tours will be available September 5 – October 11, at the PPLD East Library, during normal library hours .
https://ppld.org/HolocaustExhibit
We strongly encourage members of our community to visit the traveling exhibit at the East Library before or after our event. This event bringing two nationally recognized speakers to our community has been planned to compliment the experience of the exhibit.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS. Father John Pawlikowski is Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics and Former Director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, IL. Father Pawlikowski was appointed to the original US Holocaust Memorial Museum board by President Jimmy Carter and reappointed for three additional terms by Presidents Bush and Clinton. He will offer insight on the creation and design of the USHMM and the historical lessons offered by the exhibit. Since 2010, Scott Levin has been the Mountain States Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, guiding the ADL to fulfil its mission “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all”. Both speakers will respond to audience questions and comments about the themes from the traveling exhibit providing lessons for our contemporary context.