{"id":17378,"date":"2018-02-28T12:31:01","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T20:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=17378"},"modified":"2018-02-28T14:58:36","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T22:58:36","slug":"wallingford-umc-hosts-holocaust-presentation-to-combat-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wallingford-umc-hosts-holocaust-presentation-to-combat-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"Wallingford UMC hosts Holocaust presentation to combat hate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <strong>Patricia Naumann<\/strong> | Photos by <strong>Lucinda King\u00a0<\/strong>and<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>The Holocaust Center for Humanity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Seattle, Wash.<\/strong> &#8211; On Sunday, February 11, nearly 90 members of Seattle\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/wallingfordumc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Wallingford United Methodist Church,<\/strong><\/span><\/a> including youth and other guests filled Taylor Hall to hear child holocaust survivor, Steven Adler. Adler is a <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>Speaker\u2019s Bureau<\/strong><\/span> member of co-presenter for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.holocaustcenterseattle.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>The Holocaust Center for Humanity.<\/strong><\/span><\/a> He shared his story of survival and presented <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>\u201cWith My Own Eyes\u201d<\/strong><\/span>, a video of local Holocaust survivor recollections. Adler&#8217;s talk was also accompanied by personal and historical images.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E-TYGrolSYQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;With My Own Eyes: Holocaust. Genocide. Today.&#8221; is a 20-minutes video resource produced by The Holocaust Center for Humanity. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><!--more Read more at The PNW News Blog!--><\/p>\n<p>Adler shares he is <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>\u201cdeeply passionate about using his experiences, and the lessons of history, to implore listeners to combat hatred in their communities.\u201d<\/strong><\/span> He does so for two reasons: he feels the need to <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>give voice<\/strong><\/span> to the <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>90%<\/strong><\/span> of <strong><span style=\"color: #808000;\">1,600,000<\/span><\/strong> Jewish children who perished; and Adler sees children in our schools today experiencing what he did. \u201cChildren who are <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>different are singled out for bullying<\/strong><\/span> or other unacceptable behavior. And it\u2019s exactly what happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><strong>ABOUT STEVE ADLER<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17381\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17381\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17381 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_2.jpg?resize=200%2C202\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"202\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17381\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Adler as a young boy. Photo courtesy of The Holocaust Center for Humanity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Born in 1930 to a middle-class Jewish family in Berlin, his mother\u2019s family had resided in Germany for generations. Change began in 1933. At age 7, Steve was forced to leave his neighborhood school to a Jewish private school. In 1938 on the day after <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kristallnacht\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Kristallnacht<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Schutzstaffel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">SS<\/span><\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gestapo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Gestapo<\/span><\/strong><\/a> rounded up 30,000 men and his father arrested and sent to the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sachsenhausen_concentration_camp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Sachsenhausen<\/strong><\/span><\/a> concentration camp. He returned, roughened, six weeks later. As conditions continued to deteriorate, Steve was sent to join the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kindertransport\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>KinderTransport<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u2013 a program evacuating <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>10,000 Jewish children<\/strong><\/span>, unaccompanied by parents, from Nazi occupied countries to temporary foster care in <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>Britain<\/strong><\/span>. Most children never saw their parents again. Miraculously, Steve\u2019s family reunited in London in 1940 <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Blitz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>during the Blitz<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><strong>LEARNING MOMENTS, THEN &amp; NOW<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The presentation was impactful. Stan and Anne Willard were struck by images of regular citizens watching Jewish men being marched down the street to waiting box cars; looking at destroyed Jewish businesses; reading signs posted barring Jews from their professions, <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>and doing nothing<\/strong><\/span>. Pervasive <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>propaganda<\/strong><\/span> extended even to attractively illustrated children\u2019s books depicting Jews as enemies out to destroy the world. Others outside the Nazi Aryan racial profile were also targeted for destruction.<\/p>\n<p>The Willards were reminded of how <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>bullying, intolerance of differences, and mass fear-instilling<\/strong><\/span> propaganda can be used to change public opinion and behavior. They also could draw parallels to our <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>current national trends<\/strong><\/span> &#8211; like how social media is used to <strong><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Defamation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defame<\/a><\/span><\/strong> character, arouse suspicion, pass on lies. The Willards learned how stereotypes are used to arrest and detain people and how immigrants are deported while in the process of trying to become citizens.<\/p>\n<p>The German people were vulnerable to a <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>bullying leader<\/strong><\/span> because of <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>terrible conditions<\/strong><\/span> imposed on them post-WW1. Relieving increasing desperation here and restoring our society to sustained wholeness is our best defense against similar forces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo hear someone speak who has a direct experience of <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>Nazi cruelty<\/strong><\/span> makes the current events of our time seem more real, dangerous and worrisome,\u201d offered Jeri Howe. Her husband Jon was deeply moved, adding, \u201cThe incredible journey through word and photos I would recommend to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17380\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17380\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17380 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?resize=696%2C545\" alt=\"\" width=\"696\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?resize=300%2C235&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?resize=768%2C601&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?resize=1024%2C801&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?resize=696%2C545&amp;ssl=1 696w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?resize=1068%2C836&amp;ssl=1 1068w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IDEAS_WallingfordUMC_Holocaust_1.jpg?resize=537%2C420&amp;ssl=1 537w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17380\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rev. Ann Berney of Seattle&#8217;s Wallingford UMC and Steve Adler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>Wallingford UMC<\/strong><\/span> was honored to have <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>Steven Adler<\/strong><\/span> with us. We thank him and the <span style=\"color: #808000;\"><strong>Holocaust Center for Humanity<\/strong><\/span> for its partnership in sharing his powerful story so we may never forget and will apply its lessons to the present.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>For more information about the work of the Holocaust Center for Humanity, please visit their website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.HolocaustCenterSeattle.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>www.HolocaustCenterSeattle.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Learn more about the ministries of <a href=\"http:\/\/wallingfordumc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Wallingford UMC<\/strong><\/span><\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Patricia Naumann | Photos by Lucinda King\u00a0and\u00a0The Holocaust Center for Humanity Seattle, Wash. &#8211; On Sunday, February 11, nearly 90 members of Seattle\u2019s Wallingford United Methodist Church, including youth and other guests filled Taylor Hall to hear child holocaust survivor, Steven Adler. Adler is a Speaker\u2019s Bureau member of co-presenter for The Holocaust Center [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":17383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[111,15,6,394],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-channels","8":"category-justice","9":"category-conversation","10":"category-local-church-2"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/COVER_IDEAS_Holocaust_1080px.png?fit=1080%2C565&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-4wi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17378"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17393,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17378\/revisions\/17393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}