Histories & Narratives

The Center's Histories and Narratives are accessible via the links to the left.

Visual History Archive Subscription

The University of Minnesota Libraries have become subscribers to the Visual History Archive developed by the USC Shoah Foundation institute for Visual History and Education.

This is sometimes referred to as the "Shoah Project," or "Survivors of the Shoah" Project, or the "Spielberg Project," as the interviews with 52,000 survivors were conducted with profits from the film, "Schindler's List."

All 52,000 interviews are available from campus based computers, especially in the Wilson Library. There is a remarkable search engine that can pinpoint issues and items exactly where they are talked about on video tapes. While some tapes are archived locally, most must be ordered and it takes about 24-36 hours for them to be received online from University of Southern California.

Visit the Visual History Archive website for more information.

Contact:

Susan Gangl
Librarian for philosophy, religion, and Jewish studies
180 Wilson Library
University of Minnesota
Phone: 612 626-2281
E-mail: s-gang@umn.edu

Minnesota and the Eugenics Movement

Minnesota Eugenics Society & Founder Charles Fremont Dight
Letter from Charles Dight, President of the Minnesota Eugenics Society to Adolf Hitler, dated August 1, 1933. From collection of Charles Fremont Dight Papers P1628 Minnesota Historical Society, from scrapbook in Box 8

The University of Minnesota housed the Dight Institute for the promotion of Human Genetics that was interested in the same type of eugenics as Nazi medicine. The Institute existed at the U of M until the early 1960s.

The Dight Institute of the University of Minnesota
The Historical Perspective: Sheldon Reed and 50 Years of Genetic Counseling
Bulletin - Dight Institue of the University of Minnesota
Reactivation of the Dight Institue, 194701949 ; Counseling in Human Genetics
Minnesota Eugenics Society & Founder Charles Fremont Dight
Prof. Clarence p. Oliver
Inventory of Dight's Papers at the MN Historical Society
Wikipedia - Eugenics Record Office
Eugenics Record Office (PDF)

The Poem as Document

"Tanya", by Peter Medvinsky. Peter Medvinsky is a poet and a recent immigrant from Kiev living in New York.

Visualizing Otherness Series

  1. Nazi and other use of visual representation
  2. The Serbian Anti-masonic Exhibition of 1941-42
  3. Racist and Discriminatory Views of African-Americans in Popular Culture
  4. Native-Americans
  5. Myths Associated with the Holocaust

Philatelic and Numismatic Aspects of the Holocaust

Philatelic and Numismatics Items, Collections from post-Holocaust Europe, post-Holocaust Israel, USA and Canada and Nazi Philatelic Items.

Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon

Site in process of development with the researchers and historians of the township of Le-Chambon-Sur-Lignon, France. All materials are copyright to Le-Chambon-Sur-Lignon.

This site contains materials about the rescue of Jews in a small town in Southern France during the Holocaust. The main source is the documentation provided by the town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, with the help of its researcher, Mrs. Annik Flaud, and researcher and historian Mr. Gerard Bollon. It was most of the population of the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon (called "La montagne") and its 12 or so villages and their ministers who became involved in the rescue. Le Chambon was a center, with its 2 ministers Andre Trocme and Edouard Theis.

About 5000 refugees, political refugees, refugees from the Spanish civil war , and numerous Jewish refugees from Westen Europe and France. Estimation: maybe 3500 Jewish prople were helped , among them a great many children. No records were kept so there is no way of knowing how many people. It was a civil disobedience operation, an underground activity with an underground railroad to Switzerland.

Postcards from Le Chambon
The Plateau Vivarais - Lignon (PDF)
La Montagne Protestante (PDF)
Message des deux pasteurs du Chambon-sur-Lignon (PDF)
Terre d'accueil et de resistance (PDF)
Bibliographie Plateau Vivarais - Lignon (PDF)

Other resources, books, films and web pages on Le Chambon-sur-Lignon

Philip Halle, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed.

Pierre Sauvage, (Film) Weapons of the Spirit, available in full version as well as 30 minute classroom version from Anti-Defamation League. Sauvage's film, full version, is available from Amazon.com for purchase. Weapons of the Spirit (1989) Starring: Pierre Sauvage, Henri Heritier Director: Pierre Sauvage. Running time 115 minues.

Patrick Henry, We Only Know Men: The Rescue of Jews in France During the Holocaust is now available for preordering at a 20% discount from the Catholic University of America Press. The book will be released on November 7, 2007. Henry is a professor at Whitman College.

Working with more than one thousand unpublished autobiographical pages written by key rescuers and with documents, letters, and interviews never before available, Patrick Henry reconsiders the Holocaust rescue of Jews on the plateau Vivarais-Lignon from 1939 to 1944.

See also: Banishing the Coercion of Despair: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and the Holocaust Today, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies.
Madeleine Dreyfus, Jewish Activity, Righteous Jews, Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture

magda et andre tromceNew book (2008) in French: "Magda et Andre Trocme, figures de resistances" by Pierre Boismorand. It is a collection of excerpts from the writings of Andre and Magda Trcome, covering their whole life, following the development of their work as they never wavered from their beliefs. The texts are presented historically and chronologically. Lots of photos. ISBN 978-2-204-08480-2. Available from Amazon.fr

Editor's comment: Le pasteur André Trocmé et son épouse Magda ont organisé l'accueil et le sauvetage d'un grand nombre d'enfants juifs pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Cela est vrai et c'est déjà remarquable. Mais sait-on pourquoi ce couple, apparemment ordinaire, s'est trouvé en première ligne de presque tous les combats prophétiques du XXe siècle ? Engagement pour la réconciliation des nations européennes, lutte pour la reconnaissance de l'objection de conscience, refus de la militarisation nucléaire, militance pour l'émancipation et le développement des pays du tiers-monde ? Comment Magda et André Trocmé ont-ils été amenés à côtoyer des personnalités aussi différentes que Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, lndira Gandhi, Lanza del Vasto, Elie Wiesel, l'Abbé Pierre ou les Rockefeller ? Pourquoi ont-ils soulevé tant d'admiration et de controverses, inspiré livres, films, et colloques ; et pour quelles raisons les considère-t-on souvent parmi les pionniers de l'action solidaire et humanitaire ? Dans cet ouvrage, Pierre Boismorand répond à ces questions par un choix de leurs écrits : lettres, manifestes, confessions personnelles, testaments, prédications, etc. La diversité des documents publics, privés et autobiographiques présentés ici permet de découvrir le couple Trocmé à travers le déploiement de leur foi et de leur pensée dans toute la complexité des événements de leurs vies. Le lecteur peut ainsi pénétrer au c¦ur de leurs motivations, de leurs espérances, mais aussi de leurs rêves inaccomplis. Le pasteur André Trocmé et son épouse Magda ont traversé leur siècle avec conviction, courage et dignité. Leur soif de justice, leurs révoltes et leurs résistances pacifiques sont un exemple et une inspiration pour l'homme d'aujourd'hui.

History of the Huguenots

The French Huguenots: Anatomy of Courage, by Janet Glenn Gray(PHD U. of Missouri)
Baker Book House 1981, 1992
ISBN 0-8010-3785-1 (concise, very clear and informative.)

Suzanne Muller: From Vienna to Shanghai

Suzanne Muller's collection of documents and photographs acquired throughout her refugee experience.

POW Document

World War II Document from Military intelligence, Europe requesting that American POWS who have been released not talk about their experiences.

Courtesy of the Virginia Holocaust Museum