Library to host “Americans and the Holocaust” exhibit

ROSEBURG, Ore. – The “Americans and the Holocaust: A Traveling Exhibition for Libraries” is coming soon to Roseburg Public Library.

Visit the library between Thursday, Nov. 7, and Thursday, Dec. 19, to view the exhibition, which 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?

The exhibition – from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association – also presents stories of individual Americans, some of whom took actions that went against the grain at the time and dared to rescue Jews from Europe.

Visit during library hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The library will be closed Thursday, Nov. 28, through Saturday, Nov. 30, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the library will host three public programs that are free and open to the public.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, Dr. David Luebke will present “Examining the Holocaust through Narrative,” sharing his work on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s permanent exhibition along with his research and teaching on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Luebke is Katherine G. Brady & Thomas A. Brady, Jr., Roger Chickering & Alison Baker Professor of Central European Histories at the University of Oregon.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, author Clarice Wilsey will share her book, “Letters from Dachau: A Father’s Witness of War, a Daughter’s Dream of Peace,” which is the inspiring story of her late father, Dr. David Wilsey, who was a liberator and physician for the people of Dachau Concentration Camp.

Dr. Wilsey’s family knew little about his wartime experience, and it was not until 2009 that they discovered letters to his wife, Emily, detailing his experiences in the camp. He urged his wife “to tell thousands so that millions will know what Dachau is and never forget the name of Dachau.”

The 280+ letters survived several moves and even a house fire. Clarice Wilsey embraces her responsibility to give voice to the message her father was unable to share after his experience.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, Dr. Miriam Chorley-Schulz will present “Jewish Antifascist Activism in the U.S. During the Holocaust.”

In the summer months of 1943, the first-ever Jewish delegation from the Soviet Union made their way to North America upon the invitation of several American Jewish anti-fascist organizations. The delegates journeyed through the colonized Global South and then toured through North and South America campaigning for a common fight against fascism.

They reached a mass audience, counting at least 350,000 attendees of public-facing events alone. Their tour was a milestone of global Jewish anti-fascist organizing in the fight against Nazism. It left a lasting, if still unacknowledged, impression in America on discussions on the unfolding catastrophe that we came to call the Holocaust.

Dr. Chorley-Schulz is assistant professor and Mokin Fellow of Holocaust Studies at the University of Oregon School of Global Studies and Languages.

For details about the project, visit www.roseburgpubliclibrary.org or ushmm.org/americans-ala.

“Americans and the Holocaust: A Traveling Exhibition for Libraries” is an educational initiative of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association. The traveling exhibition began by touring to 50 U.S. libraries from 2021 to 2023; due to widespread interest from libraries and communities around the country, a second tour was developed for 2024 to 2026.

“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 also are supported by the Lester Robbins and Sheila Johnson Robbins Traveling and Special Exhibitions Fund, established in 1990.