UCI Visit Exhibition ‘Americans and Massacre’ – Orange County Register

A new exhibit at UC Irvine’s Jack Langston Library examines an aspect of the Holocaust rarely discussed in the United States.

“The Americans and the Massacre,” focuses on what Americans know about targeting Jews and what can be done to help prevent the Holocaust. The exhibition is free and will be on display in the lobby of the Langston Library through March 9.

Through a collection of primary sources, including articles, letters, poll results, quotes, and other documents, the exhibit examines popular beliefs about which Americans know little. or ignorant of the systematic persecution and mass murder of Jews by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s.

UCI was among the first 50 libraries in the nation, and the only one in Southern California, to be selected to host a traveling exhibition, based on the exhibit of the same name at the American Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC opened in 2018.

“(The exhibition comes) at a time of violent outbreaks of anti-Semitism in our nation, countering the ignorance of the Holocaust in recent generations… and the appalling rise of sects. authoritarian and nationalist political movement,” said UCI Premier Howard Gillman in a news conference broadcast February 2 to open the exhibition.

The 1,100-square-foot exhibit also explores a wide range of American responses to the threat of Nazism and includes stories of American individuals and groups who took action in response to the threat. increasing.

Among the items on display is a 1932 Cosmopolitan article written by American journalist Dorothy Thompson, who interviewed Hitler in 1931, when the future dictator was a political candidate.

Hitler was obsessed with “blaming the Jews for all of Germany’s problems,” Thompson wrote. “Anti-Semitism was the life and soul of Hitler’s movement. The Nazis did not lose an opportunity to humiliate the Jews”.

The exhibition also deals with the US government’s stance towards the admission of Jewish refugees into the country during this period. One panel in the debate included a quote from then-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt: “Britain, France and the Scandinavian countries are sharing these children. I think we should.”

Congressman Katie Porter (D-Irvine) first approached the university about hosting the exhibit after seeing it at the Holocaust Museum.

She says the exhibit is one that all Americans should see. “Americans know him (Hitler), not only our leaders, with their diplomatic and intelligence briefings, but also ordinary Americans.

“Americans know that with the rise of Hitler, the world has witnessed a profound and special darkness, but as this exhibit shows us, us as a nation, we As the people, it is unlikely that the evil we see is ours to fight.”

Several accompanying shows, all virtual, are scheduled throughout the exhibition. Here are a few:

• “Journey through the Holocaust,” featuring Holocaust survivor and Orange County resident Solange Pullman-Fisch, will take place at 5:30 p.m. ET on Feb.
• Author Join Deborah Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, will discuss her book, “Antisemitism: Here and Now,” at noon on February 16.
• Author Jeffrey Veidlinger will discuss his book, “In the Middle of European Civilization: The Pogroms of 1918-1921 and the Outburst of the Holocaust,” at 5:30 p.m. ET on February 17.

Registration is required to attend virtual shows.

An additional exhibit, “Snapshots of Orange County in the 1940s: Spaces, Places, Faces,” captures the social and political landscape of Orange County from its founding to World War II, will be on display in the Langston Library until the fall.

Information: lib.uci.edu/americans.