ONLINE | The David P. Brody Charitable Trust Holocaust Learning & Enrichment Series

During this inaugural session of the learning series, participants will receive a comprehensive overview of the history of the German medical profession, the history of bioethics in Germany during the time of the Holocaust, and historical examples of what this looked like in practice. Participants will then explore the legacy of this history and its implications for the medical field and the world then and today.

Nazi ideology affected all aspects of life in Nazi Germany, including the education system. How did teachers and school administrators respond to Nazi control? This workshop examines the role of educational institutions and individual teachers during the Holocaust. It explores why some teachers chose to take an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler and comply with Nazi ideology, while others chose to act in opposition. Participants will explore the pressures teachers felt under the Nazi regime, the range of decisions individuals made in the face of those pressures, and the relevance of this history today.

Eminent Holocaust legal scholar Michael Bazyler asserts, “No law, no Holocaust. No lawyers, no Holocaust.” In this session, John Geiringer explores the laws that led to the Nazi atrocities, and the lawyers throughout the regime who authored, implemented, and sometimes tried to mitigate them. It also describes the extent to which those lawyers eventually were held accountable, at Nuremberg and otherwise. The presentation concludes with important lessons from that era for the legal profession and beyond.

The Nazi regime relied heavily on the cooperation of businesses and corporations to carry out its racist ideology and reenvisioning of German society. During this session, participants will examine the behavior and motivations of professionals who – by choice and action – enabled and enacted Nazi policies, and those that did not. These examinations and discussions will encourage the importance and urgency of ethical responsibility in various corporate professions today.

Antisemitism didn’t begin with the Nazis; it was a deeply ingrained part of European history long before the swastika.  From centuries of church teachings to intellectual debates during the Enlightenment, Jewish people were consistently portrayed as outsiders, scapegoated for society’s ills, and framed as a “problem” to be solved. In this session, we will explore how long this history of religious, political, and cultural prejudice created the fertile ground for the dangerous ideologies of the Nazis.

While the Nazis did not invent antisemitism, they escalated it to terrifying new extremes. Drawing from centuries of religious-based hostility, they replaced this prejudice with a pseudo-scientific racial ideology. This new ideology falsely framed Jews as an existential threat to Aryan society and the well-being of the Third Reich. This session will unpack Nazi antisemitism from the formation of the party in the aftermath of WWI through the end of the Nazi regime. Participants will examine how antisemitism became the central tenet of Nazi ideology, and how it was used to justify the systematic annihilation of Europe’s Jews.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the U.S. Office of Military Government in Bavaria attempted to combat racism and antisemitism with a new law. Bavarian Law 14, Article 1, made any show of racial, religious, or national hatred illegal. Despite this measure, antisemitism was not eradicated. While the German population initially silenced their anti-Jewish sentiments, open expressions of antisemitism began to reemerge in public after only a year. Further complicating the situation, the influx of American soldiers brought with them their own form of American antisemitism. This presentation will analyze how antisemitism resurfaced in postwar Southern Germany, how it evolved as it merged with American prejudice, and the American efforts to curb this hatred before handing over control to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Where do we stand, two years after the barbaric attacks of October 7th? This exclusive event will provide a timely assessment of the threats facing Jews and their allies, exploring what has changed, where we are headed, and how we can work together to counter dangerous and destabilizing trends. Join us for a thoughtful and essential conversation about these critical issues.