Quincy University’s Brenner Library will host Helen Turner, director of education at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, for a presentation titled “Missouri and the Holocaust: Lessons from Nazis Next Door” at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 5.
The presentation is part of a speaker series accompanying the national traveling exhibition “Americans and the Holocaust” from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in partnership with the American Library Association, on display from Oct. 29 to Dec. 4, with group tours available through Dec. 2.
Drawing from the museum’s exhibition Nazis Next Door: St. Louis Faces Nazism in the 1930s, Turner will examine local Holocaust history and show how Nazi ideology and antisemitism reached communities across Missouri. Through personal stories, historical records, and artifacts, the presentation explores the choices Missourians made to support, resist, or ignore the growing threat of Nazism — offering an opportunity to reflect on individual responsibility in recognizing hatred and confronting antisemitism today.
“Nazis Next Door has proven to be a wonderful exhibition and topic for making a global history into a local exploration,” said Turner. “The history of St. Louisans’ responses to Nazim give us an insight into the draws of extremist ideologies, both in the past and the present. It is our job to understand these draws in order to combat the lure of extremist ideology today.”
Turner specializes in Holocaust and genocide studies and has dedicated her career to museum education and public history. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Binghamton University and a master’s degree in history, specializing in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, from Stony Brook University.
The event is free and open to the public.
More information about “Americans and the Holocaust” is available at https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/traveling-exhibitions/americans-and-the-holocaust.
Founded in 1860 by Franciscan friars, Quincy University is a small Catholic university emphasizing the sciences, liberal arts and the professions. Quincy University offers undergraduate, graduate and adult education programs integrating practical experience and Franciscan values. Faculty and advisors work with students to design customized success plans to help them graduate on time, find their passion and prepare them for life. QU is a member of NCAA Division II for intercollegiate athletics. For more information, please visit www.quincy.edu or contact the Office of Community Relations at (217) 228-5275 or [email protected]. Quincy University. Success by Design.