INSPIRING ACTION2011–12 Annual Report If we want the future to be different from the past, more people must understand the Holocaust and care enough to 4 Educating New Generations 8 Rescuing the Evidence 12 Advancing Knowledge act. 16 Preventing Genocide 20 Days of Remembrance 2012 24 Regional Partners 26 International Travel Program 28 Donors 30 Remembering Eric and Lore Ross 46 Financial Statements 47 United States Holocaust Memorial Council Dear friends, Last June, we convened a student In recent years, our country’s leaders have come to the Museum to leadership summit on propaganda, address the challenges of confronting contemporary genocide. You hate speech, and civic engagement. may recall that President George W. Bush gave a speech at the Museum Sixty student leaders from 47 colleges about the situation in Darfur in 2007. This spring, after a tour of the and universities in 26 states explored Museum with Elie Wiesel, President Obama paid tribute to Holocaust how the Nazis used propaganda to survivors. In speaking about the lessons of the Holocaust, the president shape public opinion and behavior. announced the establishment of an Atrocities Prevention Board to These students left equipped with bolster our government’s ability to respond to genocide. The creation a deeper understanding of the of such a board was a recommendation of the Genocide Prevention Holocaust and inspired to create Task Force, cosponsored by the Museum. campus environments where hate cannot flourish. Mary Giardina Approaching our 20th anniversary in 2013, we are honored that in a (right) of Ohio State University was short time this Museum has assumed an important role in American particularly disturbed by Holocaust society, with growing global influence. On the pages that follow we hope denial on her campus and determined to raise awareness among non-Jewish you will feel pride in the difference that you have made possible and students. Now serving as president of OSU’s Holocaust Awareness Council, confident that this institution is poised to meet the challenges ahead. she led her campus’s commemoration activities and is working with Hillel While the world has changed dramatically since the Museum opened, to promote Holocaust education and combat denial. and we must respond to those changes, human nature has not. Ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory—ensuring we can take its Thanks to your generous support, people like Mary Giardina are not alone. lessons to a diverse global audience and work with many partners, from Each year, through special programs like the one she took part in, the Museum presidents to the Mary Giardinas of the world—is our bold aspiration. strives to create what we call “active agents”—people who are inspired to see their role in society differently and to act. An active, responsible citizenry is Thank you for your continuing partnership in this ambitious vision. critical in protecting societies from injustice and hate. And so is leadership. Tom A. Bernstein Joshua B. Bolten Sara J. Bloomfield Chairman Vice Chairman Director 2 | UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM ushmm.org INSPIRING action 2011–12 annual REPORT | 3 Fostering critical thinking about why the Holocaust happened Advancing quality Holocaust education to ensure the vitality of the field Training leaders and professionals responsible for ensuring a free and just society Making truth more accessible, particularly where misinformation is prevalent EDUCATING NEW GENERATIONS As our country becomes more diverse, the world more globalized, and the Holocaust more distant in time, the connection to this history is slowly eroding. That is why the Museum must reach new audiences in new ways. And that is why our unique approach is so important, for we are focusing not only on how the Holocaust happened but also on why it happened. What creates a climate where hate prevails? Why do societies collapse? What role do we each play in creating a just society? With mobile connectivity changing how people learn and access knowledge, we launched the Museum’s first mobile learning tool The answer to why the Holocaust happened is more complex as part of our initiative on Nazi propaganda. Funded through the than a story of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. The generosity of the Robert H. Smith Foundation, the tool enables young people to text with a Holocaust survivor and learn how to alarming truth is that one need not hate to be complicit and recognize propaganda techniques—the first step in resisting them. that human nature is always susceptible to the abuse of power. And in today’s world where hate—and the indifference that enables it—is more dangerous than ever, the lessons of the Holocaust are even more urgent. 2011 HIGHLIGHTS The Museum is inspiring diverse We continued working on our groundbreaking new exhibition on collaboration and complicity. Scheduled to open in April 2013, it has audiences—especially young the potential to create a paradigm shift in how we teach the Holocaust. people and leaders—to think and We translated our online Holocaust Encyclopedia into Korean and Bahasa Indonesia. An unmatched resource, the encyclopedia is now act differently in the face of hatred, available in 13 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, and Urdu. More than 11,000 top and emerging leaders nationally and antisemitism, and genocide. internationally participated in our ethical leadership programs this year as demand from the justice system as well as military and federal agencies continued to grow. 4 | UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM ushmm.org INSPIRING action 2011–12 annual REPORT | 5 We were inspired by the different perspectives voiced at the summit. There was also a sense Sharing Best Practices and REGIONAL Models to Inspire Action of responsibility.... At the New England Regional “ Mobilizing a Shared Summit, area teachers listened We’ve been given this raptly as the director of the Commitment to Excellence EDUCATION Nebraska Institute for Holocaust After learning about the Nebraska opportunity; now what Education shared her experiences consortium, Kate English, a will we do with it? establishing the Nebraska Connecticut teacher, and her SUMMITS Holocaust Education Consortium fellow participants left the New Kate English (below, right), Connecticut teacher, following the Museum’s 2006 England summit determined Museum Regional Education Corps member, and WORKING WITH PARTNERS TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE IMPACT regional summit in Denver. to bring the same type of New England Regional Summit participant Building Networks to Ensure By organizing summits in A statewide network that is collaborative model to their state. Quality Holocaust Education strategically selected communities now a formal committee of the “The Museum’s role is what made Nationwide each year, we bring together Institute for Holocaust Education the difference this time,” explains stakeholders in Holocaust in Omaha, this consortium English, referring to an earlier Although today’s youth often gain education—including locally exemplifies the type of outcomes effort that failed. “As a national much of their knowledge outside respected institutions and state inspired by the regional summits. institution, the Museum brings a traditional learning environments, agencies with the capacity to With active members from sense of greater purpose and has teachers continue to play a vital reach critical audiences. Through the Nebraska Department of the depth of resources and support role in creating a society that discussions facilitated by Museum Education, three universities, to help sustain the network.” embraces the lessons of the staff, participants wrestle with and several school districts, the In June 2011, within six months Holocaust. And in the classroom, the challenges and demands of Nebraska consortium has built of the New England Regional quality Holocaust education the field in a constantly changing a coalition of Holocaust experts Summit, 25 educators met at happens one inspired teacher at a world. The goal is to identify gaps who annually train and support Yale University for the inaugural time. With as many as 50 percent in Holocaust education in each teachers throughout the state. meeting of the Connecticut of new teachers leaving the field region and to explore collaborative Consortium for Holocaust and within five years of beginning their opportunities to advance our Genocide Education, where careers and with education largely cause. Our 2010–11 summits took they began planning for the controlled on the local level in place in California, Vermont, and future. Representing state and the United States, the Museum Washington. The challenge now is local organizations, museums, is leading the effort to catalyze to bring this successful model to secondary schools, and universities, regional networks that can actively scale around the country, ensuring the consortium has since held engage their communities for the a continuously expanding pool of Connecticut’s first statewide long term. educators prepared to teach the teacher workshop. Holocaust effectively in each state. 6 | UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM ushmm.org INSPIRING action 2011–12 annual REPORT | 7 Pursuing evidence worldwide Leading international efforts to gain access to closed archives Cataloging and indexing evidence to make it accessible Preserving the evidence physically and digitally RESCUING THE EVIDENCE With staff working aggressively in more than 40 countries on six continents, one of our highest priorities is rescuing the evidence of the Holocaust—much of which remains to be identified. As the eyewitness generation diminishes and huge amounts of deteriorating evidence are at risk of being lost forever, this is a turning point. And with Holocaust denial spreading rapidly, this global search-and-rescue mission could not be more urgent. Our ability to preserve the memory of the Holocaust relies Universal access to the evidence is one of the most powerful on this collection. Every piece of evidence is a crucial ways to confront Holocaust denial. Yet the public never sees part of the historical record to answer how and why the the majority of the Museum’s vast collection.