Holocaust
Holocaust

History Held Hostage

Paul A. Shapiro
In 1998, shortly after joining the staff of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, I was invited to a meeting with the director of the International Tracing Service (ITS). The director had come to Washington in hopes of copying some archival collections I had helped the Museum acquire. When he was asked about access to ITS's massive and secretive Holocaust-era collections, he reported that the International Commission of ITS had decided in principle to open the ITS archives-but not for three to five years, the estimated time required to make digital copies of the millions of documents in its possession. The director declined further discussion.

Facts Make You Free

Aron Hirt-Manheimer
The Holocaust horror stories my parents told me as a young child forced me to shoulder a heavy emotional load. First I contemplated revenge against the Nazis. Later I tried escape into normalcy by blotting out painful memories. As the years passed, I discovered that going to the places where these terrible events occurred eased the psychic burden.
RJ Magazine

Last Gay Jewish Holocaust Survivor Dies

Earlier this week the last known gay Jewish Holocaust survivor, Gad Beck, passed away. In many ways he defied being a victim -- he snuck into a deportation center to free his boyfriend, for example, and was an active member of the Resistance.

Holocaust
Holocaust

A Personal Reflection on Yom Hashoah

Aron Hirt-Manheimer

Jews throughout the world have been commemorating the Holocaust annually on the 27th of Nisan since 1953, when the Israeli government inaugurated this day of remembrance and linked to the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising  of a decade earlier.