Dear Friend,

Welcome to The Wiener Holocaust Library's e-newsletter for March.

In this edition of the Library's newsletter we urge you to read our Director's statement regarding the current situation in Ukraine; find out more about our upcoming Fighting Antisemitism From Dreyfus to Today exhibition; a new online exhibition exploring the history of the Library and guest articles recently published on the Library's blog.

You can also catch up on virtual talks and register for upcoming events.

Kind regards,

The Wiener Holocaust Library

The Wiener Holocaust Library condemns both Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Holocaust distortion used to justify it. As the world’s oldest institution devoted to the study of the Holocaust and genocide, created and supported by refugees from Nazism and their descendants, we call upon international and national organisations to support those fleeing Vladimir Putin’s violence. The history and memory of the Holocaust should never be abused to justify militarism and oppression.

Putin has spuriously declared his aim to be to save Eastern Ukrainians from genocide and “denazify” the country. Both claims are gross distortions of reality. Ukraine is a sovereign nation with a vibrant, pluralistic society. The evidence is clear that most Russian-speaking Ukrainians, even those sceptical of an orientation toward the EU, would not welcome a Russian puppet government, which could only be imposed upon the country with massive repression.

Putin’s bogus justifications for his war of aggression are underpinned by misrepresentations of history inherited from the Soviet era. These distortions downplay the suffering of Jews in the Holocaust, presenting Russians as the primary victims of Nazism, and indeed sometimes resort to antisemitic tropes. Putin’s depiction of Ukraine as a “Nazi state” is not a response to the activity of the far-right in Ukraine; it is a falsehood emanating from his incapability of acknowledging the right of Ukrainians, regardless of language or ethnicity, to define themselves as Ukrainians. The fact that Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, is Jewish, and that his grandfather fought the Nazis in the ranks of the Red Army, is an indication of how absurd and offensive these claims are.

The Wiener Holocaust Library, as Britain’s library of record of the Holocaust and genocide, will always actively refute the abuse of history, especially when used as a weapon of war.

As antisemitic rhetoric and actions continue to pose a threat to Jews in Britain and around the world, the Library’s timely new exhibition explores the individuals, organisations and campaigns that have fought back against antisemitism in France, Britain and Germany over the hundred years and more since the time of the Dreyfus Affair in France in the late nineteenth century.

The arrest, trial and imprisonment of Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus on false charges of espionage became a sensation in France and across Europe and galvanised both antisemites and their opponents. This exhibition reflects upon the activities, challenges and strategies taken by those fighting back against antisemitism in France, Germany and Britain since this critical moment, and also examines current efforts to challenge antisemitism today.

Launching on Wednesday 23 March, the exhibition will display many unique items connected with the struggle against antisemitism in the twentieth century, including a rare copy of a 1930 manual providing advice and information for those challenging antisemitism in Germany, Anti- Anti: Tatsachen zur Judenfrage (Anti- Anti: Facts About the Jewish Question); collections of unique contemporary photographs recording evidence of antisemitic activity in Nazi Germany; documents from the Defence Committee of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Community Security Trust archives, and original material produced by the 43 Group in Britain, who after the war organised to take on fascist groups through direct action and infiltration.

We were very proud to launch Dr Wiener’s Library at the House of Lords on Tuesday 22 February.

It was wonderful to see so many faces at the in-person event and to mark the Library’s history with the creation of this travelling exhibition. Our launch event took place in the evocative surroundings of the Attlee Room, which gave the occasion a sense of a link to the period of British history when Alfred Wiener was first establishing the Jewish Central Information Office in Britain.

It was fitting that our special guest speakers were both closely connected to the Library in different ways. First to speak was Lord Dubs, a Kindertransport refugee, who shared reflections on the Library’s work with and support of refugees. He urged us all not to forget the experiences of his generation, who suffered the human cost of the Holocaust firsthand. Lord Finkelstein, the grandson of Dr Alfred Wiener, journalist and politician, afterward spoke movingly of his family and his recent family research based on the Library’s archive materials.

Dr Wiener’s Library traces the history of the first collection of evidence of the Holocaust and shows how it came into existence in the context of dramatic and devastating historical events. Our Director, Dr Toby Simpson, said: “We are really looking forward to working with local organisations across England to bring this travelling exhibition to local communities. We know there are many people who are still unaware of the Library’s story and its work. We hope they will be inspired, as we are, by Dr Alfred Wiener’s vision of the power of truth to do good in the world.” 

The Jewish News reported from the event and you can read the article here. 

Jewish refugees take a class at the Schlachtensee Displaced Persons camp, c. 1946-1948. Wiener Holocaust Library Collections.

We are delighted to announce that the Library’s new free educational series for the 2022 Spring/Summer Term is now open for booking.

Run by the Library’s experienced education team and guided by the British curriculum, the programme of talks and workshops are aimed at teachers and students of the Holocaust wishing to deepen their understanding of the Holocaust through engagement with the Library’s unique and historic archive.

The series will help participants to critically consider each topic and explore the variety of ways in which it can be approached in an educational setting.

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new article on the Central British Fund's 1945 child rescue scheme on the Library's online educational resource The Holocaust Explained. 

Drawing on the Library's unique archival collections, this new article explores the origins of the scheme, how it was carried out, and the experiences of the children involved. 

This photograph (below) shows some of the children who were rescued disembarking from a plane after landing in Britain in August 1945. The teenager holding the young child is Sidney Finkel who survived the Piotrkow Ghetto, Buchenwald and a death march to Theresienstadt. The man Sidney is handing the baby to is his older brother, Isaac Finkel, who survived experiences in ghettos, forced labour camps and Buchenwald. The boy right next to Sidney (with a suitcase in his hand) has been identified as Moniek Shannon who also survived Buchenwald and a death march to Theresienstadt. 

The Leave to Land travelling exhibition was authored by Clare Weissenberg and was based on materials collected through The Kitchener Camp Project, a unique online resource that brings together archival records and family treasures to build a moving and compelling picture of this unlikely sanctuary.

The Library is proud to support and display this touring exhibition, which will be displayed alongside original documents about the Kitchener Camp from the Library’s own unique collections.

The launch for this exhibition took place on Thursday 17 February with an in-person event at the Library with reflections from Clare Weissenberg and a lecture delivered by Antony Lishak. Watch here. 

Join Christopher Hale and Monica Lowenberg as they discuss the 16th March marches in Riga, Latvia which glorify the Holocaust.

Since 1998 on the 16th of March and every year, in the very centre of Riga, Latvia, marches have been regularly held to praise the ‘heroism’ of the former Latvian Legion, Waffen SS veterans, in their combat against the allies during the Second World War. Each year these events have received tacit (and sometimes very explicit and public) support from state authorities (in 2012 from the president himself) and have been attended by deputies of the Latvian Parliament, members of the Riga City Council and officials of the Ministry of Defence.

In March 2014, for the first time ever, the Latvian government commendably banned any minister from attending the march and sacked Einars Cilinskis for insisting on participating. Nevertheless, in Riga, on March 16, 2015, a European capital, in the heart of NATO and Latvia; a country that at the time held the presidency of the rotating council of the European Union, two politicians and the minister for justice still attended the SS march (despite the ban) along with over 2,000 people including ultra-nationalists from the UK.

In 2016, under the new government, the ban was lifted and as in 2013, in 2018 and in 2019 respectively, the National Alliance subsequently requested of the Latvian government that the law on Holidays and Remembrance Days be amended and Legionnaire Day be made a national remembrance day. To date Legionnaire Day is not a national day but the march is allowed to go ahead in the interest of 'free speech'.

Becoming a member is a powerful way you can support us in working towards our wider mission. In return, you can enjoy our exclusive member benefits and know that you are playing a significant role in the future success of the Library.