Voices on Antisemitism features a broad range of perspectives about antisemitism and hatred. This podcast featured dozens of guests over its ten-year run.
Sarah Wildman is a journalist and the author of "Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind." In her book, Wildman documents a journey to find her grandfather’s girlfriend Valy Scheftel, who stayed behind in Vienna in 1938 when he immigrated to America. The book is a detailed portrait of one young woman’s experience during the Holocaust, but also a deliberation about this generation’s role in preserving memory.
Edward Serotta founded Centropa in 2000 to preserve memories of Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust. Centropa has trained thousands of schoolteachers to bring this material into classrooms from Gastonia, North Carolina, to Vilnius, Lithuania. A strong believer in the power of personal narrative, Serotta hopes that Centropa stories will resonate with new generations, who may never have the opportunity to engage with a survivor in person.
Sam Ponczak was only two years old when World War II broke out in Poland, and for many years he didn’t think of himself as a Holocaust survivor. But later in life, when asked to speak to schoolchildren about his experiences, Ponczak began to embrace his story of survival as part of the important narrative of the Holocaust.
Miriam Isaacs was born to Holocaust survivors in a displaced persons camp in Germany. Trained as a linguist, she taught Yiddish for many years at the University of Maryland. More recently, she has been translating the Stonehill Jewish Song Collection, housed here at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
A few years ago, Glenn Kurtz discovered a reel of film in the closet of his parents' home in Florida. Only three minutes long, the footage shows his grandfather's hometown of Nasielsk, Poland, in 1938. The clip has become surprisingly important—both historically and personally.
Margit Meissner decided—at the age of 80—that it was time to write a book about her experience as a Holocaust survivor. In the 12 years since, she has shared her story with many visitors to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where she now volunteers as a guide.
Surviving the Holocaust by pretending to be a Christian Pole, Betty Lauer gained a unique perspective on the step-by-step process of dehumanization that fueled it.
Louise Gruner Gans' experiences with prejudice have influenced her work as a lawyer and as a judge, and have reminded her to keep a human perspective on the law.
When Helen Jonas speaks of SS officer Amon Goeth, her voice still bears traces of the horrors she witnessed as his house servant at the Plaszow Concentration Camp. Sixty years later, Jonas met with Goeth's daughter Monika, a meeting recorded for the documentary film Inheritance.
Nechama Tec believes it's important to examine the Holocaust from many different angles. In her work, she looks at the places where antisemitism and sexism intersect, and at the particular ways in which women endured Nazi persecution.
Learn more about the different types of antisemitism and how to identify them.