United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (review)

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) website in Spanish and in Portuguese makes available profoundly important materials—dating from January 30, 1933 to June 1942 and beyond to 1952—for the Hispanic and Portuguese peoples of the world. It offers an invaluable collection of photographs, audio and video clips, and bibliographic and historical documentation, which are continuously updated as new materials are made available. The Spanish site, translated from the site in English, "Holocaust Learning Center," leads to the following sections: the Holocaust: Purpose of the Site; the Rescue Mission by the Hungarian Jew George Mandel-Mantello; a Learning Site for Students and Teachers; Anti-Semitism: A Continuing Threat; the Propaganda of the Nazis; the Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936; Encyclopedia of the Holocaust: An Alphabetical Index of the Articles; Voices about Anti-Semitism; and Auschwitz through the Lens of the SS: Photos of the Nazi Leaders of the Camp. There are links to rich resources for teaching: maps on the Holocaust and World War II; an annotated bibliography of books in Spanish and Portuguese on the Holocaust; a list of frequently asked questions with precise answers on the Holocaust, the camps, the victims, the resistance and rescue; on Ann Frank; on the judgment for the crimes (Nuremburg Trials); and on the USHMM. Keywords and subjects are indicated in color so that the reader can go directly to the topic; in turn, each subject is linked to additional references. The scope of the Spanish website encompasses the full sweep of the Nazi hatred: the systematic persecution and assassinations inflicted by the Nazis on homosexuals; ideological, political, religious dissidents; Romany and the incapacitated, all considered enemies of the Third Reich and inferior to the Master Race. The site in Portuguese is not as extensive as the one in Spanish but it is nonetheless important and includes most of the themes in the Spanish site. It also presents the personal photos and commentaries of 421 children.

The 145 "Personal Histories of Survivors and Victims" in the Spanish site, with both Jews and a few Gentiles, include for each individual a photo, the nationality, the date of birth, and a brief background of the victim. While the information is necessarily limited due to the expansive scope of this section, there are noteworthy details and historical facts embedded in the messages.

In the section "Voices about Anti-Semitism," those interviewed represent different professions: academics, film makers, religious leaders, lawyers, politicians, an ex-neo-Nazi, entertainers, and athletes. Focusing mainly on the consequences of Anti-Semitism, they remark on present-day hate crimes and on post-Holocaust Genocide, as in Rwanda and Cambodia. They yearn for more interfaith discussions and for a recognition by the media of the harm caused through the dissemination of hateful and inaccurate representations, such as those disseminated by the Third Reich and RTLM, the Radio Station in Rwanda. Those interviewed plea for humankind to overcome indifference to the suffering of others and to search for truth, to seek compassion, to fight intolerance, and to pass on what they have learned to others.

Ironically for this portion of the website, dedicated in part to disseminating information to the Hispanic world, there is an absence of material on the Sephardim, save for a brief reference to Salonika, under the theme, "The System of the Nazi Camps." The Sephardim suffered through the destruction of their communities, the excruciating and lengthy transport to the death camps, and the sad and brutal deaths of so many. Yet, here in the site for Spanish and Portuguese their voices are absent. (Those desiring more information on the Sephardim and the Holocaust will need to consult the English language website of the USHMM.)

Through their testimonials, the readers of the USHMM website in Spanish and Portuguese share their thoughts and reactions. An Argentinean writes: "Es muy difícil realmente poner en palabras lo que uno como persona puede sentir al saber de esta Guerra. Creo que impotencia, dolor, tristeza...