Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed worldwide on Jan. 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. It gives the world a chance to acknowledge the horrors of the genocide that occured while mourning those who Nazis killed and honoring survivors.

It is also an opportunity to bolster the fight against all forms of hatred and xenophobia. During the Holocaust, Nazis killed millions of people, targeting mainly Jews, but also gay people, Romani people, those with disabilities and others. This Meeting in a Box is a valuable tool to continue your employees’ cultural competence training and recognize the painful reality of the Holocaust. In this Meeting in a Box, we provide a timeline of the Holocaust, facts and figures about survivors and a tip sheet on observing Holocaust Remembrance Day and educating yourself and others about the Holocaust.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

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Holocaust Remembrance Day For All Employees

1 HOLOCAUST TIMELINE

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The Holocaust was a systematic and state-sponsored genocide, driven by anti-Semitism and the belief that Aryan Germans were “racially superior” and that Jews were inferior and thus a threat to German society.

The term holocaust comes from the Greek words “holos,” whole, and “kaustos,” burned. Originally, this term referred to religious sac-rificial offerings, but took on a new meaning after the genocide.

After years of Nazi rule in Germany under which Jews were persecuted, Hitler was able to carry out his “final solution” — extermination of Jewish people — under the guise of World War II.

However, even before Adolf Hitler’s rule, anti-Semitism has been a historical reality. The term was coined in the 1870s, but hostility toward and persecution of Jewish people dates back to the ancient world, with records of Roman authorities destroying the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and driving Jews out of Palestine. Anti-Semitism continued throughout history, often-times, with Jews being treated as racial “others” rather than religious “others.”

From 1933–1939, the rise of the Nazi party centered upon Hitler’s goals of racial purity and expansion of power. At first, the Nazis’ vi-olence was directed toward political opponents: Communists and Social Democrats.

In Germany at the time, Jews were a minority, making up only 1% of the population. As part of the Nazi goal to Aryanize Germa-ny, they dismissed non-Aryans from service and liquidated Jew-ish-owned businesses. Under the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents was considered a Jew, and those with two Jewish grandparents were considered Mischlinge, or “half-breeds.” Using these classifications, Jews were targets of persecution. During what came to be known as Kristallnacht, or “night of broken glass,” in 1938, Nazis destroyed German Jewish synagogues and shops, arrested thousands of Jews and killed around 100.

In 1939, Germans occupied the western half of Poland, forcing tens of thousands of Polish Jews into ghettos. That same year, the Nazis began the “Euthanasia Program,” putting 70,000 Germans in-stitutionalized for disabilities or mental illness to death.

As Germany’s power expanded throughout Europe during WWII, the army began sending Jews and Romani people from all over the continent to the Polish ghettos.

In 1941, the Germans began mass transportation of people to concentration camps where Jews, homosexuals, disabled people, Romani people and others were starved, worked and gassed to death. The Germans tortured these people with medical exper-iments and dehumanized them, giving them numbers instead of names, taking their clothing and shaving their heads.

While liberation of these camps came as Germany eventually surrendered, the effects of the Holocaust — and the reality of an-ti-Semitism — continues to leave a lasting stain on modern history.

Source: History.com

Discussion Questions for Employees

? What do you already know about the Holocaust? Why is it important to discuss, even if it’s painful?

? How can echoes of anti-Semitism and hatred still be heard throughout the world today?

? Why is it important to discuss the Holocaust specifically in the workplace? How can understanding often painful history help our team achieve cultural competence and create an environment that fosters diversity and inclusion?

USHMM Photo Archives

1941

1938

Share this timeline with your employees to spark discus-sions about the Holocaust and its effects on history.

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2 FACTS & FIGURES: HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS WORLDWIDE

These facts and figures reflect estimated numbers of Holocaust survivors worldwide. As the population of those alive during WWII ages, it is important to listen to, remember and share their stories.

Discussion Questions for Employees

? Do you know any Holocaust survivors or relatives of Holocaust survivors? How are their stories valuable to us today?

? In what ways does our company recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day and honor victims and survivors, both publicly and internally? What is some employee feedback about these observances? Are they effective in sharing knowledge and encouraging important —albeit

difficult — discussions?

? What other ways can we observe Holocaust Remembrance Day? How can we continue this historical knowledge-sharing throughout the year?

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U.S. Department of Defense

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U.S. DoD

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3 #NEVERAGAIN: TIPS ON OBSERVING & EDUCATING ABOUT HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAYHuman rights activists and supporters around the world have made “never again” a rallying cry to recognize and stand up to xenophobia, hatred and othering. However, persecution, violence and even genocide of marginalized groups have happened since the Holocaust and continue to happen today. A recent rise in neo-Nazism and anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. has made it clear we still have work to do to make sure this kind of violence truly never happens again. This tip sheet will offer tools for you and your employees to discuss this history and its implications in productive ways.

Discussion Questions for Employees

? How can we, as a company, observe Holocaust Remembrance Day in a way that educates and honors the lives of victims and survivors?

? How can we create a workplace environment that has no tolerance for hatred? How can we not only have policies, but enforce them?

? How can diversity on all levels help us grow as a team and a company?

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“Never Again Means Never Again,” Marc Nozell, CC BY 2.0

1925 Hitler re-forms the Nazi party and installs himself as leader.

1933 -Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. -Nazis establish the first concentration camp, Dachau, to incarcerate

political prisoners, mainly opponents like Communists and Social Democrats.

-Nazis stage an economic boycott of Jewish businesses.

1935 The German Parliament, Reichstag, pass the Nuremberg Laws,

which legally solidify Nazis racial classifications and allow for the othering and persecution of Jews.

1936 The Berlin Olympics provide a worldwide stage for Nazis to use

propaganda to position themselves as a respectable party.

1938 -Germany annexes Austria, sparking street violence against Jews

in Vienna. -The Munich Agreement grants an area in Austria with a large

ethnic German population to Germany. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain calls the agreement an achievement of peace.

-Kristallnacht — a night of violent anti-Jewish pogroms in Germany results in the destruction of synagogues and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses. Nearly 100 people are killed and thousands more arrested. Kristallnacht is considered a turning point in escalation of persecution against German Jews. After the violence, dozens of anti-Jewish laws are passed.

-Kindertransports — the program of removing child refugees from Nazi Germany and bringing them to Great Britain — begin. These transports continue through 1940.

1939 The ocean liner St. Louis carries 900 passengers, mostly Jews

fleeing Nazi Germany. It is headed toward Cuba, where it is denied entry. It then heads to the U.S., where it is also denied. This refusal leads the ship back to Europe where some passengers are taken in by the U.K. and others relocate to Western European countries that later become occupied by Germany. Two hundred and fifty-four of the passengers end up being killed in the Holocaust.

Germany invades Poland. WWII begins.

1940 -Germany invades France, the Netherlands and Belgium in May. -The Netherlands and Belgium surrender in May and Paris becomes occupied in June. An armistice agreement gives Germany the power over northern France.

-Auschwitz — the largest concentration camp — opens outside of Krakow, Poland.

In Warsaw, Poland, 350,000 Jews are confined to the Warsaw Ghetto, which is an area of just over one square mile. These ghettos are rife with poverty and illness.

1941 -Nazi Germany invades the U.S.S.R., leading to German mobile units

and Nazi intelligence officials identify, rounding up and shooting Jews en-masse.

-Jews over all of the territories of German control are forced to wear yellow Stars of David to delineate them from others.

-The U.S. enters WWII after the Pearl Harbor attack.

1942 -German and Nazi officials convene at the Wannsee Conference

outside of Berlin to discuss the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish question”: genocide.

-Germans begin gassing Jews, Poles, Romani people and Soviet prisoners at Treblinka.

Timeline

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1941Everett Collection/Shutterstock

1940

1943 The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins. For nearly a month, small

groups of Jews attempt to fight German forces before being defeated.

1944 Germany occupies Hungary and 440,000 Hungarian Jews are sent

to camps, mostly to Auschwitz.

1944 Prisoners in Auschwitz rebel against the Germans. Germans kill

nearly 250 people.

1945 -“Death Marches” begin as Soviet forces advance against Germany.

The Germans march 60,000 prisoners toward Germany. Those who fall behind are shot. Soviet forces arrive and liberate the remaining 7,000 prisoners 10 days later.

-As Soviet forces near Hitler’s command bunker in Berlin, Hitler kills himself.

-Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies. Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day is declared the next day.

-The Nuremberg trials begin. An international tribune in Nuremberg charges 21 Nazi leaders with crimes against humanity. Twelve are eventually sentenced to death.

1946 A mob of Polish soldiers, police officers and civilians murder 42

Jews and injure over 40 others in a pogrom in Poland. The event causes many Polish Jews to emmigrate to Palestine or elsewhere.

1947 “The Diary of a Young Girl,” known as the diary of Anne Frank, is

published by Franke’s father Otto after his daughter is killed by Nazis. Her story chronicles her experience in hiding during Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. It ends up being published in 70 different languages worldwide.

1948 -The state of Israel is established. In accordance with the United

Nations Partition Plan, a Jewish and Muslim state are established in Palestine.

-The U.S. Congress passes the Displaced Persons Act, allowing 200,000 displaced people to enter the United States.

-The United Nations approves the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It establishes “genocide” as an international crime.

1956 Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, publishes “Night,” an account of his and his father’s experiences in the Nazi concentration camps, Auschwitz and Buchenwald between 1944–1945. His books become staples in literature about the Holocaust.

1961 An Israeli court convicts Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

Eichmann is executed in 1962.

1993 The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opens in D.C.

1986 Wiesel receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

2005 The U.N. declares January 27 — the anniversary of the liberation of

Auschwitz —International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

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Sources: myjewishlearning.com; encyclopedia.ushmm.org

Giannis Papanikos/AP/Shutterstock

1965

1945

1943

1986

1945

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HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR ESTIMATES

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Sources: Jewishvirtuallibrary.org; Berman Jewish DataBank; The Times of Israel; The Jerusalem Post; Della Pergola

Demographics of Holocaust Survivors are dependent on the source and the definition used to classify people as survivors. Because of these in-consistencies, these numbers should be interpreted as estimations. There is no central database that stores global Holocaust survivors’ information. This research reports estimated Holocaust Survivors in the U.S., via the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Holocaust Survivors and Vic-tims Resource Center, and Israel. Both countries account for 84% of the World’s Jewish population, according to Berman Jewish DataBank, and a 2003 report on Review of Relevant Demographic Information of World Jewry.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center (USHMM) and Yad Vashem define a Holocaust Survivor as “any person, Jew-ish or non-Jewish, who were displaced, persecuted, or discriminated against due to the racial, religious, ethnic, and political policies of the Nazis and their allies be-tween 1933 and 1945 and also includes a person who was a refugee or in hiding.” Based on the definition, both sources provided pre- and post- Holocaust and recent estimates.

Present-day Estimates

• The USHMM estimates there are 200,000 living survivors in the U.S. and Canada today.

• The Times of Israel reported there are 212,000 Israeli Holocaust Survivors alive today. This number is estimated to decrease to 102,000 by 2025, 53,000 by 2030 and 26,200 by 2035.

Holocaust Survivors By Region (2003)

This data comes from a 2003 study conducted by Dr. Sergio DellaPergola, defining a Holocaust Survivor as “any Jewish person who is alive today and who at least for a brief peri-od of time were submitted in their location to a regime of duress and/or limitation of their full civil rights in relation to their Jewish background — whether by a Nazi foreign oc-cupying power or by a local authority associated with the Nazis’ endeavor — or had to flee elsewhere in order to avoid falling under the aforementioned situations.

Population Estimates Before and After Holocaust

#NeverAgainObserving & Educating About Holocaust Remembrance Day

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WHEN DISCUSSING THE HOLOCAUST OR ANY GENO-CIDE, AVOID COMPARISONS OF PAIN. Comparing other historical atrocities like colonialism and slavery to the Holocaust does not lead to productive conversations, and inevitably diminishes the gravity of those events. Although statistically numbers of deaths of various movements, institutions and genocides may vary, the pain caused and evil done in each requires reflection. Holocaust Remembrance Day focuses specifically on the Holocaust.

Sources: ushmm.org; mfa.gov.il

CONSIDER WAYS TO COMMEMORATE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Encourage your followers to reflect. Share photos of sur-vivors and victims, highlight their stories and share facts. Guide employees and followers toward official websites, like that of the United States Holocaust Memorial Muse-um, to educate themselves.

DISCUSS ANTI-SEMITISM AS CENTRAL TO THE HOLO-CAUST, BUT UNDERSTAND OTHER GROUPS WERE ALSO VICTIMIZED. The Holocaust claimed the lives of 6 million European Jews as Hitler and the Nazis scapegoated Jew-ish people for their country’s problems and created an ideology that framed Jews as racially inferior. However, the Nazis attacked other groups as well. Soviet citizens and prisoners of war, people with disabilities, Poles, Serbs, Romani people, gays, lesbians and other political opponents were also murdered.

CONSIDER VISITING A MUSEUM OR MEMORIAL. There’s the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Wash-ington, D.C.; the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Anne Frank Center in New York City; the Holocaust Aware-ness Museum and Education Center in Philadelphia; the Dallas Holocaust Museum and Center for Education and Tolerance in Texas; The Holocaust Center of Northern Cal-ifornia in San Francisco; and many more.

CELEBRATE JEWISH HERITAGE AND CULTURE. Jewish people have a rich and resilient history and culture. It is important to acknowledge the victimization of the Holocaust, but also be sure to celebrate the accomplish-ments of Jewish people around the country and world. Remember this ugly part of history, but don’t use it to define people.

Tips & resources for discussing and educating about the Holocaust and observing Holocaust Remembrance Day

TRANSLATE STATISTICS INTO PEOPLE. When we discuss wars and genocide, we often fall back on listing num-bers of deaths. These shocking numbers certainly put the atrocities into perspective, but we can lose human-ity in just focusing on numbers. The millions of people killed during the Holocaust were complex human beings with families, friends, communities, careers, hobbies and aspirations — not just statistics. A good way to human-ize the sheer number of deaths in the Holocaust is to seek out and listen to stories of survivors or those close to survivors.

TAKE “IF I WERE ALIVE THEN, I WOULD’VE STOPPED IT” THINKING AND APPLY IT TO NOW. In hindsight, many historical happenings seem so egregious that it is hard to believe people allowed them to happen. Think about events today that you want to be on the right side of his-tory of. Take action. Maren Winter/Shutterstock.com