Echoes of the Holocaust: Eugenics and Disability in the Time of the Holocaust

Join us for our Jewish Education Program’s Echoes of the Holocaust series, a communal conversation focusing on the voices of contemporary scholars, writers, and artists as they reflect on the relationship between Holocaust history and the present.

In this online event, Facing History facilitators will be speaking with Dr. Patricia Heberer Rice, senior historian at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum regarding the Nazi Euthanasia Program-the systematic murder of people with disabilities in Germany. Dr. Rice serves as a specialist on medical crimes and eugenics policies in Nazi Germany and will explore how the Nazis used eugenics and their pursuit of “Aryan genetic purity” to define certain groups as unworthy of life.  We will also learn the stories of some of the victims, bringing a focus to the dignity of people who the Nazis sought to dehumanize. 

Recently, Facing History has explored the history of disability in events such as Teaching the History of Disability and Building Inclusive Learning Communities, as well as Standing Up for Disability Rights: A Day of Reflection and Action. This webinar will continue to delve into this topic through the lens of eugenics policies in Nazi Germany.