What do we choose to remember and why? What memories should we work to keep alive? Jackie and Kevin explore that in this episode.
“I think it’s important for us to understand, too, why it’s important to keep these stories, these legacies, alive… we all stand on the shoulders of the accomplishments and sacrifices of these individuals who’ve made our country, our world, a better place.” — Host Kevin Aldridge on the importance of honoring the upstanders who came before us
January marks two important occasions of memory for the nation and the world – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jackie and Kevin explore the character strengths that made Dr. King a transformative leader. Kevin reflects on how Dr. King’s deep spirituality provided the foundation for his remarkable ability to love, forgive, and inspire hope even in the face of hatred. Jackie shares some ways the Holocaust & Humanity Center is expanding its efforts to keep the memory of the survivors who founded its predecessor organizations alive.
Holocaust survivor Joan Mermelstein’s story serves as a profound reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. Joan survived Auschwitz and two other concentration camps, and her son Bob shares how she made it her mission, and he has made it his, to speak out against Holocaust denial by telling her story.
The spotlight then turns to Joyce Kamen, whose meticulous work in preserving Holocaust testimonies reflects her belief that stories must be handled with care and reverence. Her efforts to collect and archive survivor testimonies helped create a foundation for the Holocaust & Humanity Center.
The episode also celebrates the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter. His hands-on work with Habitat for Humanity in the decades after he was in the Oval Office serves as a powerful example of humility and service.
This episode is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Center for Storytelling. Subscribe here https://www.youtube.com/@holocaustandhumanity
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Episode Resources
Making Heroes is Community Work by Misty Levingston and Kevin Nguyen-Stockbridge, Ph.D.
Visit the new exhibit on Emmett Till at the Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Read Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail in its entirety
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/letter-from-birmingham-jail
Read more reflections on the lives of Dr. King and Anne Frank, born just months apart in 1929
https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/news/sharing-hope/
How the world is marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz this year for International Holocaust Remembrance Day
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/beyond-abyss-80th-anniversary-liberation-auschwitz-birkenau
https://www.auschwitz.org/en/home-page-80
https://www.claimscon.org/rememberthis/
Come visit us in person to interact with Dr. Henry Fenichel’s Dimensions in Testimony exhibit
https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/exhibits/dimensions-in-testimony/
Watch the episode of Hear My Story featuring Bob Mermelstein
Learn more about Josef Mengele, the Nazi who often made life and death decisions at Auschwitz, including the lives of Bob Mermelstein’s mother and grandmother
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/josef-mengele
Watch the episode of Hear My Story with Joyce Kamen
Order Joyce’s children’s books, created in collaboration with her granddaughter, Lilly
