International Holocaust Remembrance Day | Virtual Commemoration

77 years ago, on Jan. 27, 1945 at 3 pm local time, Soviet Forces liberated the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, and revealed the full horror of the Nazi regime’s atrocities to a shocked world. Today, in 2022, Germany has become a leader in dealing with the terrible past, and a voice for promoting tolerance and understanding. GAHF and DANKHaus in Chicago invite you to participate in an online commemorative event to remember the past, but to also highlight acts of humanity that saved lives and set an example for us today. We cannot change history, but we can learn from it, and apply its lessons to a better future.

We have composed a distinguished and diverse panel to remember the victims, whilst moving forward towards mutual understanding and acceptance.

• Rabbi Andrew Baker, Director of International Jewish Affairs at the American Jewish Committee. Rabbi Baker has been decorated by the Presidents of Germany (2003), Lithuania (2006), Latvia (2007), and Romania (2009) for his diplomatic work of promoting dialogue and tolerance.
• Mr. Oliver Moss is descended from a prominent German Jewish family, and his grandfather Siegfried fought for the German Empire in World War I. His father and grandfather fled after the Reichskristallnacht in 1938, and escaped to the US. He will be reading an excerpt from his aunt’s diary.
• Dr. Michael Luick-Thrams, an Iowa native, is a professor of social history at the University of Erfurt. He has conducted extensive research about WWII-era refugees, and places such as the Scattergood Hostel, a former Quaker boarding school in rural Iowa, which saved 185 European Jews and opponents of the Nazi regime.
• Anastasia Kallish is a young Jewish-American woman living in Germany, and she will provide a contemporary perspective on what it means to be Jewish in Germany in the 21st century.

This event is free and open to the public, but due to Zoom limits, we request early registration([email protected]). Upon registering you will receive the link via email on Jan. 25.

Please note that we will record the event, and make the recording available on our YouTube channel.