12 Years That Shook the World

In 1943, amid the American Jim Crow era, a young Black American named Leon Bass enlists in the Army to fight Nazi Fascism. But once Leon enters WWII and becomes a witness to the Holocaust, he discovers something that will forever change his perspective on his home in the US, and on the world. Featuring Museum educator Lynn Williams. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing. Listen...

In 1931—before the Nazis come to power— radical antisemite, Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorff, organizes a violent riot against Jews on a vibrant Berlin avenue. This catches the attention of high-ranking Nazis. What role will Helldorff play once the Nazis take control? Featuring Museum historian Dr. Lindsay MacNeill. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing. Listen with caution.

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In 1937, Erwin Haber, a Jewish boy from Austria, had just turned 13. But months later when the Nazis take over his country, Erwin will be forced to navigate the world without his parents— and help his little sister and grandmother survive the Nazi reign of terror. Featuring Museum researcher Dr. Belinda Blomberg. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing. Listen with caution.

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When Frieda Belinfante’s home country of the Netherlands is invaded by the Nazis in 1940, she leaves her flourishing music career to join the resistance movement. In defiance of the Nazi regime, Frieda, a lesbian, will risk her life to protect Jews, musicians, and other members of her community. Featuring Museum historian Dr. Jake Newsome. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing....

When the Germans invade the Soviet Union in 1941, three Jewish brothers prepare to fight back. Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski hide in a dense forest, and form a group of resistance fighters. While surviving in the forbidding wilderness, they also rescue Jews, and try to hold on to a sense of community. Featuring historian Dr. J. Luke Ryder. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing....

All her life, Pauline Kneissler wanted to become a nurse. And in 1939, she is recruited by the Nazis to be a nurse in a secret killing operation. Will she be forced to murder? Or will she choose to become a killer? Featuring historian Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing. Listen with caution.

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Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie, and his friends at the University of Munich secretly form a resistance group called “The White Rose.” They distribute messages condemning the Nazi regime, and speak out on behalf of Jews. Until one morning in 1943, they’re caught. Featuring Dr. Rebecca Dupas. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing. Listen with caution.

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Kurt Gerstein, a Nazi SS officer, is asked to supply the chemical Zyklon B to the Auschwitz killing center in 1942. But once Gerstein sees that the chemical will be used to murder Jews in gas chambers— he makes an unexpected move. Featuring historian Dr. Jürgen Matthäus. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing. Listen with caution.

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While visiting Vienna, Austria with her family in March 1938, American Helen Baker finds herself caught up in a pivotal moment. She watches as the Nazis move in and annex Austria. Then, she steps into the story, herself. Featuring historian Dr. Rebecca Erbelding. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listeners may find disturbing. Listen with caution.

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From an office in Geneva, Switzerland, two friends—a Jewish businessman and the Salvadoran colonel who rescued him—manufactured thousands of false citizenship documents that protected Jews in Nazi-controlled Europe. This is the story of the largest Holocaust rescue you’ve never heard of. Featuring Edna Friedberg, a historian at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Please be advised: This podcast contains stories that listener...

“We are in the presence of a crime without a name,” Winston Churchill said in a 1941 speech. At the time of the Holocaust, there was no legal definition for an atrocity on such an enormous scale. And there wouldn’t be one for seven more years—until the United Nations adopted the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. How has this document been applied in a post-Holocaust world?

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Most of what we know about the Holocaust comes from Nazi perpetrator documents. One striking exception is the Ringelblum Archive: a massive collection of artifacts and writings from Jews trapped in the Warsaw ghetto during the German occupation of Poland. Under the leadership of historian Emanuel Ringelblum, these oppressed people secretly wrote and preserved their own history.

Featuring Holocaust scholar Leah Wolfson, Se...

Holocaust history reminds us that the unimaginable is possible, and that individuals have far more power than they realize.  Welcome to “12 Years That Shook the World,” a podcast from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, examining the impact of the Holocaust, both then and now. Join us in exploring this history, one story at a time. Check us out on social media @HolocaustMuseum, and look for the show wherever you g...