Museum Commemorates 70th Anniversary of Holocaust Liberations with Year of Remembrance Programs

Dachau barracks as seen from above. “Dachau camp.” Germany. 1945. Gift of Vincent Yannetti, from the collection of The National WWII Museum.

In 1945, a great evil was confronted and defeated on the battlefields of World War II, but soldiers encountered even darker elements behind the battle lines with the discovery and liberation of concentration camps throughout Europe. Seventy years later, The National WWII Museum is honoring those liberations by presenting a year’s worth of compelling programs that explore the last year of the war in connection with the Holocaust.

The various programs are collectively known as Year of Remembrance and each one plays a vital role in the Museum’s mission to not only recount the details of the war, but also make a connection between what these events mean today and how they are still relevant to younger generations. Museum volunteer and WWII veteran John Rogers often shares the emotional story of first seeing a concentration camp and the men there who stood with what little was left of their strength to welcome their liberators. At that moment, he felt overwhelmingly that all he and his men had been through was worth it saying “I knew we were right.”

Join us throughout the year in memorializing those who suffered through the Holocaust and honoring the bravery of those who liberated the camps of Europe.

1945/2015: YEAR OF REMEMBRANCE EVENTS

Thursday, May 7 – US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center
70th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day – The General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Distinguished Lecture on WWII: Eisenhower The Liberator: A Panel Discussion featuring the grandchildren of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
5:00pm Reception | 6:00pm Presentation and Q&A

Join us for an enlightening evening as the grandchildren of General Dwight D. Eisenhower come to discuss their grandfather’s legacy and his experiences during the war. Moderated by Dr. Keith Huxen, the Museum’s Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Director of Research and History, the panel will discuss Eisenhower in his role as Supreme Commander and chief amongst the liberators—including his personal encounter with the Holocaust as he inspected the camps at Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. One of Eisenhower’s lasting legacies as leader of the Allied Forces was to force soldiers, civilians, and media to tour the sites themselves in order to have eyewitnesses, written records, and photographic evidence of Holocaust crimes.

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Wednesday, September 30 – US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center              
Special Presentation – Harry Nowalsky and the Rebirth of Berlin’s Jewish Community, with Jessica Greenberg and special guest Ruth Jaffe, a Holocaust survivor
5:00pm Reception | 6:00pm Presentation and Q&A

Information on this event coming soon.

Thursday, October 8 – US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center
Special Presentation – The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World by Kati Marton
5:00pm Reception | 6:00pm Presentation and Q&A

Information on this event coming soon.

Thursday, November 19 – Stage Door Canteen
Pre-International Conference on WWII Symposium covering important aspects of the Holocaust
9:00am | All-Day Event

The 2015 International Conference on WWII will be complemented by a one-day Symposium covering important aspects of the Holocaust. Registration for the Holocaust Symposium is ONLY open to registrants of the 2015 Conference. Please visit www.ww2conference.com to register.

Saturday, November 21 – Hyatt Regency Hotel
2015 International Conference on WWII: Why We Fight featuring Alex Kershaw and John Orloff

For more information on the 2015 International Conference on WWII, please visit www.ww2conference.com.

Saturday, November 21 – US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center
2015 International Conference on WWII Closing Banquet: Operation Last Chance: One Man’s Quest to Bring Nazi Criminals to Justice featuring Efraim Zuroff

For more information on the 2015 International Conference on WWII, please visit www.ww2conference.com.

PREVIOUS EVENTS

Tuesday, January 27 – Louisiana Memorial Pavilion
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
Holocaust Survivors Panel featuring Mark Rubin and Luna Kaufman
5:00pm Reception | 6:00pm Panel | 7:30pm Book Signing

On January 27, 1945, Soviet forces liberated Auschwitz. Every year, this date is marked as International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Join us for an emotional and insightful evening as we hear from two Holocaust survivors who will share their stories of fear, suffering, and liberation. This event will launch The National WWII Museum’s “Year of Remembrance,” focusing on the 70th Anniversary of the liberations that took place around the world as a result of the Allied victory. The Museum will host various programs that explore the last year of the war in regards to the Holocaust by examining the survivors, liberators, and perpetrators. This program will honor and memorialize those who suffered through the Holocaust as well as those who helped to end it by liberating the camps of Europe.

Watch what you missed at this event on Livestream

Thursday, March 12 – US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center
Special Lecture – Varian Fry and the American Rescue Committee by Neill Lochery
5:00pm Reception | 6:00pm Presentation and Q&A | 7:00pm Book Signing

Dr. Neill Lochery examines Jewish rescue workers groups, specifically the American Rescue Committee led by Varian Fry. Dr. Lochery will discuss the group’s efforts to rescue European Jews from the Nazi onslaught and attempts at finding them refuge throughout the world, especially the US. With extensive background and research on Lisbon in WWII, Dr. Lochery will share his insight and discuss the array of colorful characters and Lisbon’s celebrity/royal refugees as they awaited deliverance out of Europe.

Watch what you missed at this event on Livestream

Thursday, April 23 – Solomon Victory Theater
Documentary Screening – Above and Beyond with post-screening discussion with film producer Nancy Spielberg
5:00pm Reception | 6:00pm Screening | 7:30pm Filmmaker Discussion and Q&A

In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. At great personal risk, they smuggled planes out of the US, trained behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. This ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, but also embarked on personal journeys of discovery, sacrifice, and renewed Jewish pride. Above and Beyond is their story.

An accomplished businesswoman, fundraiser, and philanthropist, producer Nancy Spielberg has in recent years turned her energy and talents to producing documentary films. She served as consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary Chernobyl Heart and was executive producer of Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals on PBS. Ms. Spielberg also produced Celebrities Salute Israel’s 60th, a project for the Israeli government, which was featured in Times Square on the NASDAQ screens for one month.

Filmmaker Nancy Spielberg introduced the film and took questions after the screening.