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. (Music: “Rainfall Serenade,” and “Scenery” “by Kai Engel; “Floating,” “Feeling,” and “Memoir of Solitude” by Borrtex; “Clean Soul” by Kevin MacLeod; “I am a man who will fight for your honor,” “Land on the Golden Gate,” and “There are many different kinds of love” by Chris Zabriskie)

12 Years That Shook the World

Thousands of False Identities

“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? Featuring Cameron Hudson, Senior Strategy Advisor and former director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Music: “Scenery” by Kai Engel; “Dark Matter,” “Dry Air,” “Netherland,” and “Vibe Drive” by Podington Bear; “Lurking” by Silent Partner; and “Houston Vibes Score” by Unicorn Heads.)

Genocide, 1948

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, Senior Program Officer at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Music: “Changing Reality,” “Difference,” “Scenery,” “Soli,” and “Written in Ink” by Kai Engel, and “Porches and Universes” by Puddle of Infinity)  

What a Secret Archive Taught the World

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 get your podcasts.

Welcome to 12 Years That Shook the World

Today, Holocaust history shapes aspects of our lives—often in ways we don’t expect. "12 Years That Shook the World," from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, explores the continuing impact of this 12-year history, one story at a time.