The Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibit started today at Albertsons Library at Boise State University.
The library is one of 50 in the nation selected to host the exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.
"The exhibit asks the question, 'What did Americans know, and what more could have been done in the 1930s and the 1940s?', and examines Americans' responses to the rise of Nazism, to World War 2, to the refugee crisis, and ultimately to the Holocaust," said Gwyn Hervochon, Librarian and Archivist at Albertsons Library.
The exhibit is open to the public, during library hours, from March 22-April 26.
On Monday, March 27, Boise State’s president, Dr. Marlene Tromp, will be in person to open the exhibit with a public reception from 5:00pm - 7:00pm.
School groups are encouraged to visit the exhibit, and can make online reservations by visiting boisestate.edu/library/americans-and-the-holocaust [boisestate.edu].
The website also includes the complete list of lectures, music, a remembrance walk and other thematic events featured throughout the five weeks.
Rebecca Erbelding, an historian featured in Ken Burns’ recent Holocaust documentary on PBS, is the keynote speaker on Monday, April 10 at 6 p.m.
Americans and the Holocaust examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped our country’s responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe. The exhibition is based on extensive, new research into how much Americans knew, and did, about the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews as the Holocaust unfolded.
The exhibit explores many influencing factors in American history — including the Great Depression, isolationism, xenophobia, racism and anti-semitism — that influenced our government’s decisions, the media, organizations and individuals as they responded to Nazism.
"We are so proud to be chosen from more than 250 applicants to host this powerful exhibition,” said Albertsons Library’s Dean Tod Colegrove. "We invite the community to explore it, and we’re excited to partner with local organizations for additional programming."
