Book & Author: Saving Our Survivors: Holocaust Memory, Aid, and American Jewish Response

Join us for a timely and thought-provoking conversation with Holocaust historian and former Illinois Holocaust Museum staff member Dr. Rachel Deblinger as she discusses her new book, Saving Our Survivors: How American Jews Learned About the Holocaust.

Drawing on previously unexamined archives and postwar cultural materials, Saving Our Survivors invites readers to explore how American Jews constructed meaning out of devastation—and how humanitarian aid became intertwined with public memory. The book also raises larger questions about how historical tragedies are narrated in moments of crisis, and how stories influence the will to act.

Dr. Deblinger’s groundbreaking work uncovers how American Jewish communities first came to learn about and respond to the Holocaust through communal campaigns, radio broadcasts, speeches, short films, and urgent calls to action.

Reservations required. Free to the public.