histoPOD: Commemorating the Holocaust

Anti-Jewish legislation existed in Hungary even before the outbreak of the Second World War. What role did Hungary play in the Second World War? How did the culture of Holocaust remembrance develop over time? These are the topics we are discussing with Andrea Petö, Professor at the Central European University.

Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland marked the beginning of the Second World War. With the system of concentration and extermination camps, which Nazi Germany built mostly in occupied Poland, the regime’s aim of totally exterminating the Jewish population was nearly achieved. In this edition we speak to Dariusz Stola, the former director of the Polin museum.

Argentina is the only country in Latin America with a museum dedicated to the history of the Holocaust. Although the country was neutral during the Second World War, it still has many historical links to the Holocaust. In this podcast we talk to Jonathan Karszenbaum, executive director of the Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires.

As the country is located in the southern hemisphere, Holocaust remembrance is a little different in Australia than it is in Europe or the USA. In this edition we speak to Avril Alba of Sydney University, tracing how the country changed as a result and how commemoration of the Holocaust influences how Australia is engaging with its own history.

Memory of the Second World War in Japan is often influenced by 1945, when the nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. How is the Holocaust communicated in Japan, and how does the country deal with its past? In this episode of the histoPOD, we speak to Fumiko Ishioka, the director of the Holocaust Education Resource Center in Tokyo.

In Israel, memory of the Holocaust has changed significantly over time. Yael Granot-Bein, director of the Weiss-Livnat International MA Program in Holocaust Studies, explains why it took some time before Holocaust survivors told their stories in Israel and how this is linked to the turning points in the country's history.