INHERITANCE: PERPETRATOR, RESCUER, SURVIVOR

Opening Night of Holocaust Education Week features three remarkable speakers who will explore their diverse connections to the Holocaust and consider how this familial legacy has shaped their identities and inspired their work today. Moderated by prizewinning journalist, author, and Vanity Fair Contributing Editor Nina Munk, the evening explores how descendants – whether of a perpetrator, rescuer or survivor – grapple with their inherited legacy and how they have been compelled to help build a more compassionate and caring world. Rainer Hoess, grandson of Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz, now educates people around the world about the dangers of hate and combats his grandfather’s infamous legacy. Nobuki Sugihara, son of Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat posted to Lithuania who rescued thousands of Jewish refugees by securing them visas, honours his father’s legacy and works to correct the inaccuracies of his father’s narrative. Allison Nazarian, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and author of Aftermath: A Granddaughter’s Story of Legacy, Healing & Hope, shares the impact of growing up in a Holocaust survivor family, and how she came to focus on healing and the future. Together, they will offer us new avenues to consider the relevance and significance of Holocaust remembrance and education today, by creating a better tomorrow.

Opening night of HEW is generously co-sponsored by Great Gulf with additional support from the Japan Foundation and Shiseido.