Americans and the Holocaust

Americans and the Holocaust will be at USCL Aug. 19-Sept. 30, 2026

Upper Sandusky Community Library is one of 50 U.S. libraries selected to host Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association (ALA) that examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. 

“We are so proud to be selected from a competitive pool of applicants from all across the nation to host this important and powerful exhibition,” said Library Director Kathleen Whitt. “We encourage community members to come explore it, and we’re excited to be partnering with our local schools to host field trips, as well. The exhibition will challenge people to not only ask ‘what would I have done?’ but also, ‘what will I do?’” 

Learn more about the Americans and the Holocaust exhibition. Read the full announcement. 

 

How to book exhibit tours

If you plan on bringing a group and/or would like a docent to lead you through a tour of the exhibit, please email Krystal at ksmalley@seolibraries.org or Patti at pdavidson@seolibraries.org, or call the library at 419-294-1345 to book a tour. Tours are scheduled in two-hour blocks to allow you time to view the exhibit, displays, and survivor testimonies. 

The exhibit is recommended for adults and students in fifth grade and up. There is no cost for a docent-led tour. 

 

When to visit

The exhibit will be available to view during library hours until a half hour before the library closes. The library has also extended its Saturday hours during the exhibit. The library hours during this period are: 

  • Monday-Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
  • Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. 
  • Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

The library will be closed on Monday, Sept. 7 for Labor Day. 

The exhibit is free to attend. 

 

Schedule of events

Please note: All programs will either be in the library's board room or at Trinity Evangelical Church. Please check the location of each event prior to attending. 

 

 

Displays

Library staff have created displays to integrate with the Americans and the Holocaust exhibit. Those displays include:

  • What did Upper Sandusky know?: This display, located near the library's front desk, examines what life looked like in 1940s Upper Sandusky. It includes a recreated living room, a stereo playing music from the 1940s, Life magazines from the 1930s and 40s, and excerpts from the Daily Chief-Union, the town's local paper. 
  • The Butterfly Project: This display is located in the downstairs vestibule. It features butterflies colored by the community in remembrance of the children at the Terezin concentration camp. 
  • From Barbed Wire to Butterfly: This installation, located in the large meeting room, was inspired by the poem ”The Butterfly” by Pavel Friedmann and the painting “One Spring” by Karl Robert Bodek and Kurt Conrad Löw. It contains over 1,500 photographs in a collage style with a gradation from black to sky blue. These photographs follow a timeline beginning with the devastation of Kristallnacht, continuing to life in the ghettos, to the deportation and arrival in the concentration camps, life in the camps, and the eventual liberation of prisoners from the camps. It finishes with images of Holocaust survivors and their families. The colors transition along with the timeline, representing the darkness that fell upon the Jewish people to the light and color of survival. 
    • There are seven posts to represent the seven weeks Pavel Friedmann spent in the ghetto before being sent to Terezín. The dandelions that called to him are placed at the end in his memory and for all the survivors that lived to see them again. You are encouraged to follow the progress of the butterfly as it takes flight from its recreated pose on the barbed wire. 
    • This display also ties into the Butterfly Project display in the vestibule before you enter the exhibit. 
  • Identifying Triangles on Concentration Camp Uniforms: This display features symbols used by the Nazi regime to identify people held prisoner in the concentration camps. Also on display will be a concentration camp uniform recreated by Abby Davidson.
  • The Path to Liberation: Located at the Wyandot County Visitors Bureau, this is a condensed version of the library's original Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2023. It features a timeline from the rise of Hitler to liberation, photos from World War II, quotes from survivors, and a Holocaust book display.
  • Daniel's Story: This display is located in the young adult section of the library's main level. It features the short film Daniel's Story, created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which is based on the museum's Remember the Children exhibition. Daniel's character represents the real experiences of millions of actual Jewish children during the Holocaust. The library's display also features graphics about America's responses to the Holocaust and young adult books on the Holocaust. 

 

Credits

Americans and the Holocaust: A Traveling Exhibition for Libraries is an educational initiative of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association. The traveling exhibition began by touring to 50 U.S. libraries from 2021 to 2023; due to widespread interest from libraries and communities around the country, a second tour was developed for 2024 to 2026. 

Americans and the Holocaust was made possible by the generous support of lead sponsor Jeannie & Jonathan Lavine. Additional major funding was provided by the Bildners — Joan & Allen z”l, Elisa Spungen & Rob, Nancy & Jim; and Jane and Daniel Och. The Museum's exhibitions are also supported by the Lester Robbins and Sheila Johnson Robbins Traveling and Special Exhibitions Fund, established in 1990.