The U.S. and The Holocaust Screening

The U.S. and the Holocaust 3-part series  by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein 

Join WXXI and our community partners for a free screening talkback event at The Little Theatre. An hour long excerpts from the THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST series will be shown followed by a panel discussion on February 13 at 6:30pm. Free but please register here for general seating available first come, first serve to registrants.

WHEN: February 13. 2023 at 6:30pm. 

HOW: Free but please register here for general seating. Available on a first come, first serve basis for registered audience.

REGISTER HERE

MODERATOR/FACILITATOR:

Beth Lilach is the Executive Director of the Konar Center for Tolerance & Jewish Studies at Nazareth College. She has been engaged in Holocaust & Genocide History, Jewish pedagogy, and Social Justice Advocacy for over thirty years. Beth is a dedicated educator, researcher, speaker, and activist. Her background includes creating a Holocaust Museum and Artifact Archive on Long Island, conducting presentations at conferences around the world, and designing tailor-made professional development seminars on ethics for nurses, physicians, law enforcement officers, and attorneys. Beth received her BA in Feminist Studies from the University of California-Santa Cruz and obtained her MA in Holocaust History and Genocide Studies from Clark University.

PANELISTS:

Michael Boester is a Professor of Geography in the Department of Chemistry and Geosciences and the Endowed Chair of Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies at Monroe Community College. Professor Boester teaches a course on the Geography of Genocide and is the faculty advisor for the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project's student organization.

William "Bill" Drumright has served as a Faculty Advisor for the Holocaust Genocide and Human Rights Project at Monroe Community College since January of 2004,. An Associate Professor of History, he has taught a course on the History of the Holocaust since 2006—first with professor emeritus Charles Clarke, and then by himself. Professor Drumright earned his doctorate in History from the University of Tennessee/Knoxville, with his academic specialty being the New Deal/World War II era. Professor Drumright attended two academic seminars at Yad Vashem in, respectively, 2005 and 2008, and presented at an international conference at the Holocaust in 2009, also held at Yad Vashem.

Michael Dobkowski received his M. A. and Ph. D. degrees in history from New York University and is presently Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, primarily teaching courses in Jewish Studies and Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He serves as the coordinator of the Holocaust Studies Minor and founding member and current co-chair of the Genocide and Human Rights Symposium Series at HWS that began in 1999. He has helped lead eight study tours for HWS students to Germany and Poland since 2003, and alumni trips to Germany, Poland and Israel. These have been some of his most memorable teaching experiences. He is the author or editor of over ten books including The Tarnished Dream: The Basis of American Anti-Semitism (1979), The Politics of Indifference: Documentary History of Holocaust Victims in America (1982), Jewish American Voluntary Organizations (1986), and in 2007 he co-authored, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear States and Terrorism. He has co-written and edited other volumes on the Holocaust, genocide, nuclear weapons and anti-Semitism including, The Coming Age Of Scarcity (1998), The Nuclear Predicament: Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century (2000) and On The Edge of Scarcity (2003). Recent published articles have focused on Judaism and violence and anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. His main areas of interest include the American Jewish experience, Holocaust Studies, religion and violence, and anti-Semitism.

Extended Trailer: | Watch the full 3-part series: On-demand access: The series will be available on demand on WXXI PBS Passport  https://video.wxxi.org/show/us-and-holocaust/  (Available in English and Spanish) 

Other Series Resources:  

On-demand access: The series will be available on demand January 6 – February 3, 2023 and afterwards on WXXI PBS Passport at https://video.wxxi.org/show/us-and-holocaust/  (Available in English and Spanish)   

Unpacking the U.S. and the Holocaust Viewing Guide for more background

National Conversations: On-Demand: Watch on-demand national virtual conversation events 

WXXI News Local Coverage:

• Connections Podcast: Memoir Authors: Sam Rind and Jerry Elman on remarkable stories of surviving the Holocaust
  
  
• Connections Podcast: Holocaust survivor Lea Malek shares her story 9/20/2022 
  
  
• PBS Documentary Examines the U.S. Response to The Holocaust via WXXI News (Sept. 18, 2022)
  
  
• A local Holocaust survivor says she's haunted by images of the Russian invasion of Ukraine via WXXI News (March 2022)
  
  
• More NPR & WXXI Issues Coverage Connected to the Holocaust
  
  

Educator Resources: Educator Webinars, On-demand, Resources & PBS LearningMedia Collection

Local Outreach Partners:

The Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester-Center for Holocaust Awareness and Information

The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project at Monroe Community College

Local support provided by: 

National Funding and Production Credits:

THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST is a production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C. Directed by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein. Telescript by Geoffrey C. Ward. Produced by Sarah Botstein, Lynn Novick, Ken Burns and Mike Welt. Edited by Tricia Reidy, ACE, and Charles E. Horton. Co-producer is Lucas B. Frank. Original music produced by Johnny Gandelsman. Cinematography by Buddy Squires, ASC, and Wojciech Staroń, PSC. Narrated by Peter Coyote. Voices include Adam Arkin, Hope Davis, Paul Giamatti, Olivia Gilliatt, Elliott Gould, Murphy Guyer, Werner Herzog, Josh Lucas, Carolyn McCormick, Joe Morton, Liam Neeson, Matthew Rhys, Meryl Streep, Bradley Whitford and Helena Zengel. The executive in charge for WETA is John F. Wilson. Executive producer is Ken Burns.

Corporate funding for THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by: David M. Rubenstein; the Park Foundation; the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation; Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A. Darling; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; and by the following members of The Better Angels Society: Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine; Jan and Rick Cohen; Allan and Shelley Holt; the Koret Foundation; David and Susan Kreisman; Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder; Blavatnik Family Foundation; Crown Family Philanthropies, honoring the Crown and Goodman Families; the Fullerton Family Charitable Fund; Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky; The Russell Berrie Foundation; Diane and Hal Brierley; John and Catherine Debs; and Leah Joy Zell and the Joy Foundation. Funding was also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.