Reporting the Holocaust in Real Time

“The Holocaust and Its Immediate Aftermath (1933-1947): The Press, Newsreels, Films and Radio Broadcasts in Real Time”

International Scholarly Workshop Opens at Yad Vashem Next Week

(Jerusalem)  An international workshop for Holocaust scholars will take place at Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research next week.  Examining how the Holocaust was reported in various media during World War II, the workshop, the first of its kind, brings together Holocaust researchers from Israel, Canada, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the UK, Hungary, Russia, Holland and the United States, for in-depth discussions of how the various media reported the Holocaust as it unfolded. 

“The Holocaust and Its Immediate Aftermath (1933-1947): The Press, Newsreels, Films and Radio Broadcasts in Real Time” will take place at Yad Vashem on July 13-20, 2009, with the generous support of the Gutwirth Family Fund. 

“So far, research has looked at post WWII media in relation to the Holocaust,” said Prof. David Bankier, Head of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem. “For the first time this workshop brings together serious research on real time media coverage of the Holocaust. In fact, some of the research that will be presented was undertaken specifically for this workshop. Looking at a diversity of media and geographic areas, the workshop will help clarify such questions as what ‘bystanders’ really knew about the Holocaust, during the Holocaust and, if the Holocaust was marginalized in the press, why was this the case?”

Participants will present new research on issues such as “German Newsreels and the Holocaust”; “Antisemitism in Nazi-influenced Wartime Newsreels: An International Perspective”; “The Czechoslovak BBC section and the Jewish Aspect of the Broadcasts to the Protectorate and Slovakia during WWII”; “Jews in Hungarian Newsreels, 1933-1947”; “Anti-Jewish Propaganda in Occupied Poland, 1939-1945: Inciting Hate Through Posters, Films and Exhibitions”; “Racist and Antisemitic Propaganda in Context: Fascist Radio Broadcasts in Italy About Racism and Antisemitism, Newsreels and the Plans for Racial Movies (1933-1945)”; “Radio Vaticana: A Catholic Voice in the Second World War”; and “The Bystanders’ Perspective: Coverage of the Persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust in the Canadian Print, Radio and Newsreel Media and Its Impact on Holocaust Awareness and Governmental Policies in Canada, 1933-1947.”

(Courtesy of the Foreign Media Liaison / Yad Vashem and the GPO)

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, was established in 1953. Located in Jerusalem, it is dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, documentation, research and education. www.yadvashem.org

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June 11, 2009

Yad Vashem Comment on Shooting at USHMM

(June 11, 2009 - Jerusalem)  The following statement was issued by Iris Rosenberg, Yad Vashem Spokesperson:

We were shocked to hear last night of the appalling shooting at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.  Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev spoke to USHMM Director Sara Bloomfield last night (Wednesday) to express his support, and deep empathy, to her and all the Museum staff and offered any help he could provide.  Yad Vashem offers sincere condolences to the security guard’s family. 

Initial reports indicate that this shooting was the work of an antisemitic white supremacist, who obviously understood the symbolism of the target he chose.    The Museum in addition to being a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, is dedicated to educating against this kind of hate. His target makes this shooting that much more heinous.

(Courtesy of Yad Vashem Foreign Media Liaison)