Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) is one of 50 U.S. libraries selected to host Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum that examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.
Americans and the Holocaust will be on display at the Main Library at 68 Calhoun Street, along with a series of related special events, from September 9 to October 15, 2024. You can learn more about the exhibition here.
Americans and the Holocaust Travelling Exhibition Opening Reception
Monday, September 9 @ 5:00 pm
Enjoy light refreshments and get a first look at the exhibition.
Thanks to the support of the Jewish Endowment Foundation of South Carolina.
The U.S. and the Holocaust Documentary Screening & Discussion
Tuesday, September 10 @ 6:00 pm
View a screener version of Ken Burns documentary The U.S. and the Holocaust and participate in a community discussion moderated by Professor Chad Gibbs. This shortened version of The U.S. and the Holocaust will provide background knowledge about the American response to the Holocaust that will enhance the experience of visiting the Americans and the Holocaust Travelling Exhibition. Attendees are encouraged to explore these topics in a thoughtful discussion led by Professor Gibbs after the film.
Hands-on History with Charleston Jewish Federation: Jim Crow & the Nuremberg Laws
Thursday, September 12 @ 4:30 pm
Students in grades 8-12 are invited to participate in a program presented by the Charleston Jewish Federation exploring the connections between the Jim Crow era in the U.S. and the Nuremberg Laws enacted by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Letters from Europe: South Carolina Jews and the Holocaust with Chad Gibbs
Wednesday, September 18 @ 6:00 pm
Join Dr. Chad Gibbs for a discussion of family letters sent from Germany and Poland to Camden, South Carolina and what these messages reveal about local understandings of the Nazi threat and American Jewish efforts to save friends, family, and fellow Jews during the Holocaust.
Generational Survivors & Liberators Panel Discussion
Monday, September 23 @ 6:00 pm
Join a panel of second and third generation Holocaust survivors and children of liberators to hear family experiences and testimonies about the events of the Holocaust.
Reports of Atrocities in the Charleston Press of the 1940s
Wednesday, September 25 @ 6:00 pm
What did they know and when did they know it? Join Dr. Nic Butler of CCPL for a look at the way local media in Charleston and South Carolina covered the events of the Holocaust.
-Submitted by Charleston County Public Library
(Image credit: Charleston County Public Library)