Kristallnacht

Tonight is the 73rd anniversary of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass). The German Nazi-coordinated attacks on synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses, & homes were the beginning of what we know as the Holocaust. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has excellent resources for teachers & students. We urge all teachers & parents to read Guidelines for Teaching about the Holocaust. No matter how much you know about the Holocaust, the museum has something to offer. (Here is last year's Kristallnacht post)

November 9/10, 1938

On 9 November, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Anne Frank House will present the Anne Frank timeline a visual timeline in which Anne Frank’s story is placed in the context of important historical events. The Anne Frank Timeline starts in 1914 with the outbreak of World War One and Otto Frank’s conscription into the German army and continues through to today including the significance of the diary and the Anne Frank House.

The Anne Frank Timeline includes exceptional photographs and audio and video fragments. There is a TV interview with Simon Wiesenthal about his search for Karl Silberbauer, the SS officer who arrested Anne Frank and the others in hiding. There are also images taken in Amsterdam showing Jewish refugees from Germany who were taken in after the Kristallnacht. The timeline also includes fragments of radio broadcasts from Dutch radio stations with one of Otto Frank speaking at the opening of the Anne Frank House on 3 May 1960. (via Anne Frank House)

(photograph by D Sharon Pruitt)

Terrible News from Washington, DC

...in more ways than one. Please visit the U.S. Holocaust Museum & send your condolences to the family & colleagues of Mr. Stephen Tyrone Johns, a security guard murdered this afternoon at the museum. He worked at the museum for 6 years & was a wonderful man. He saved many lives. What you do matters.

UPDATE: There will be no post today (Thursday, 11 June 2009).

[photograph by generous George Brett, Washington, DC-area photographer.]

Never Again: What You Do Matters

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
— Elie Wiesel

The Days of Remembrance this year are 19-26 April. Holocaust Remembrance Day, this year is tomorrow, Tuesday, 21 April 2009. (See here for explanation of date system & for 5 Things You Don't Know about Anne Frank.) See here for this year's theme (Never Again: What You Do Matters), activities, & reading from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. President Obama will give the annual memorial speech in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, 23 April. We will listen closely for his thoughts about Darfur. There is a fascinating exhibit at the USHMM on Nazi Propaganda; you can make a virtual visit if you're not planning to be in DC anytime soon. (photo credit)

Note: Unfortunately we cannot allow comments or back-links to/on this post. We are very sorry but cannot risk the possibility of a recurrence of what happened with the Rwanda post.

Talib Kweli Performance for Darfur

Talib Kweli is donating his performance to Darfur to ask that the world does not turn a blind eye to genocide. To learn more about what you can do, please visit www.darfurolympics.org.