The Calvin T. Ryan Library is hosting Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association through March 19. The exhibit explores how Americans responded to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.
Laurinda Weisse, the University archivist, led the effort to bring the exhibit to UNK.
“It really tries to get into the messiness of history,” Weisse said. “For example, it pulls in what percentage would be open to more refugees in the country, and even really late in the war, when we had a fairly good idea of what was happening, especially to the Jewish people, but also to other Nazi victims, there was still no appetite for accepting any refugees.”
The exhibit uses public opinion polling, personal stories, photographs and historical documents to show what Americans knew about Nazi persecution and how the U.S. government and public responded before, during and after World War II.
Evan Boyd, the dean of the library, said the exhibition is particularly meaningful because it connects global history to Nebraska’s past.
“There were German prisoner of war camps in Nebraska,” Boyd said. “Evidently, a lot of them chose to settle here after the war.”
Boyd said the exhibit challenges visitors to confront difficult questions about American inaction.
“I think the most challenging thing is that the U.S., and most nations, knew something wasn’t right and was going on well before the U.S. actually entered the war,” Boyd said. “Either inaction or negative actions were taken up until that point. It ended, and the perpetrators were taken to account for their actions, but something could have been done sooner.”
Students contributed to the project as well. Faith Poggioli, a history major with minors in public history and sociology, worked on the exhibit through a Museums and Archives course and serves as secretary of Phi Alpha Theta, a national honor society for history students.
“For my portion of the project, another student and I were assigned the postwar years from 1945 to 1947,” Poggioli said. “We did research on various building projects and relief efforts for returning veterans to campus.”
That research led Poggioli to focus on how the University memorialized those who died during the war.
“One of the most powerful and emotional parts of the exhibition was the memorialization of the deceased soldiers,” Poggioli said.
The exhibit also encourages visitors to reflect on how history relates to the present.
“There was sympathy in the American public, but not a will for action,” Weisse said. “I think that’s a really interesting distinction.”
Boyd said that the exhibition remains relevant for students today because it highlights lesser-known aspects of World War II and the Holocaust, particularly elements of American involvement often overlooked in classrooms.
“Even if you think you know a lot about World War II and the Holocaust, there are elements in the exhibit that are rarely talked about,” Boyd said.
Poggioli hopes students and visitors take a meaningful lesson from the exhibit.
“Empathy is a crucial part of our being,” Poggioli said. “We need to remember how helping others makes us stronger together.”
The exhibit is free and open to the public, with programming for high school and middle school groups, lectures and related events in the library and Kearney community.
