Anti-Semitism – its history and relevance today Eighty-plus years after the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is once again being expressed publicly and violently. Classic anti-Semitic tropes are freely expressed; signs reading “Jews to the gas” and “Hitler should have finished the job,” are common; and Jews have been attacked and murdered.
Like all forms of intolerance and discrimination, anti-Semitism has a profound impact on the whole of society, undermining democratic values and human rights. In recent years, the changing geopolitical climate and media environment have led to a situation where open anti-Semitism is no longer confined to extremist circles and has become increasingly mainstreamed.
Join us on Friday, September 23 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) as we learn more from Ursula Szczepinska on how to address anti-Semitism through education to promote both human rights and responsible global citizenship.
Ursula Szczepinska is the Director of Education & Research at The Florida Holocaust Museum (FHM). Prior to joining The FHM 18 years ago, she worked at the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and at the State Museum at Majdanek on site of the former concentration and death camp in Lublin, Poland. At both organizations, she worked with unpublished testimony, conducted research, and designed primary source-based resources. As the head of The FHM’s Education and Research Department, Ursula is responsible for teacher, student, and community education, including docent-led tours for various audiences. Ursula teaches classes for educators and students at middle, high, and university level. She also conducts archival and historical research for Holocaust survivors as well as for exhibitions and other projects of The FHM. She has helped survivors discover the fate of their loved ones from whom they were separated during the Holocaust.
Ursula holds two Master’s Degrees in Holocaust studies. In partnership with the Anti-Defamation League and the USHMM, she piloted in Florida the “Law Enforcement and Society: Lessons of the Holocaust” program for police agencies across the state and has been teaching it since 2014. Szczepinska is also on The FHM’s team working with USC Shoah Foundation on the Dimensions in Testimony project that records survivor testimony in a format enabling museum visitors to ask questions that prompt real-time responses from pre-recorded video interviews. The FHM has recorded Holocaust survivor interviews in this format for the first time in Florida. Szczepinska’s work has been featured in various media, including the Time Magazine.
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