Author: Jeff Sherry

Reposted from the Chicago Tribune >> I’m a huge sports fan. And while I have a particular penchant for my hometown Chicago teams, I’ll tune in to any big game. For me, sports provide the unscripted drama that supersedes the latest Netflix binge. Watching an underdog college basketball team make a surprise run to the… Read More

October 11th is National Coming Out Day, a day established in 1988 by members of the LGBTQ+ community to encourage people to stop hiding and be open about their identity. Coming out increases visibility of the LGBTQ+ community and in extension combats ignorance, prejudice, and biases. It also fuels feelings of solidarity within the LGBTQ+… Read More

September 29-30th marks the 80th anniversary of the largest massacre during the Holocaust committed by mobile killing units in the German-occupied Soviet Union Territories (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Bessarabia, North Bukovina, and Soviet Union), with over 33,771 Jews murdered in two days. The massacre at Babi Yar, outside of Kiev, Ukraine, is among the… Read More

Originally published in Smithsonian Magazine Author: Nora McGreevy When European Jews targeted by the Nazis sought help from nations around the world, most of their pleas went unanswered: At a 1938 conference of 32 countries, for instance, only the tiny Dominican Republic agreed to welcome additional German Jewish evacuees. Countries such as the United States, Canada and Cuba, meanwhile,… Read More

As a Survivor of the Holocaust and the President of Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Fritzie Fritzshall devoted her life to combatting hatred and prejudice, inspiring people to become Upstanders instead of bystanders, and speaking out to make our world a better place. She tirelessly fought hatred, telling her harrowing story of survival and… Read More

Background: A culmination of events spanning centuries led to the Armenian Genocide. Between 1688-1913, Ottoman Turkish power declined through war and loss of territory. In the wake of the Balkan Wars in the early 20th century, the new Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) government sought to create a homogenous Turkish State. Known as the… Read More

On Nov. 9, 1938, the Germans orchestrated the destruction of synagogues and the looting of Jewish-owned businesses throughout Germany. They destroyed Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools and homes. Police arrested 30,000 Jewish men and sent them to concentration camps. Those who were previously hesitant to leave realized that night that Jewish life in Nazi Germany was… Read More

Due to the pandemic, millions across the globe have been living under “shelter in place” ordinances for months. For those of us in the United States, including here in Chicago, state-wide ordinances have forced social hubs to shut their doors. Countless highly anticipated social gatherings and events have been cancelled, including Ravinia, Lollapalooza, and the… Read More

Extremism and domestic terrorism are not new problems in our country, but they are challenges that in recent weeks have come into sharper focus. How to address these trends and reverse the rise in extremist and domestic terror activities – actions that are dangerous to human life and that are a violation of the criminal… Read More

Nelson Mandela International Day is day for us to honor the touchstone of determination and succession. Every year on July 18, we highlight the legacy of a man who, at the expense of himself, displayed an unwavering commitment to social justice, human rights and dignity for men and women. But this year should be different…. Read More