Americans and the Holocaust

The Reference Desk

In this episode, Katie shares what America knew about the Holocaust as it was unfolding.
Recently, Katie volunteered as a docent for the ALA's traveling "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibition in partnership with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The exhibition explores how much Americans knew about the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews in Europe and examines the U.S. response in a global, historical context. The exhibition also invites visitors to consider what more could have been done by Americans, a question we should continuously be asking ourselves as acts of persecution and genocide continues around the world to this day.
For more information about the "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibition:
Exhibit at the USHMM in Washington D.C.
Guided video tour with curator Dr. Daniel Greene
Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibition
Suggested reading:
Selections to accompany the USHMM exhibit
Selections to accompany the ALA traveling exhibit
YA and Children's selections from the Teacher Fellows with the USHMM
PBS documentary: The U.S. and the Holocaust
Staff picks:

• One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
• The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

The Reference Desk's recommended Holocaust reads:

• Hitlerland by Andrew Nagorski
• The Unwanted by Michael Dobbs
• Why? Explaining the Holocaust by Peter Hayes
• The Book Smugglers by David E. Fishman
• The Nazi and the Barber by Edgar Hilsenrath
• Badenheim 1939 by Aharon Appelfeld
• This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski
• The Occupation Trilogy by Patrick Modiano

All suggested readings available in our bookshop

References:
Materials provided by the ALA
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Support the show