Explore America's response to one of the greatest humanitarian crises of the 20th century with The U.S. and the Holocaust – a new three-part, six-hour series directed and produced by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein. The U.S. and the Holocaust airs October 6, 13, and 20 at 9 p.m. on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.
Inspired in part by the "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and supported by its historical resources, The U.S. and the Holocaust examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States, and race laws in the American south. The series, written by Geoffrey Ward, sheds light on what the U.S. government and the American people knew and did as the catastrophe unfolded in Europe.
Using first-person accounts of Holocaust witnesses and survivors as well as interviews with leading historians and writers, The U.S. and the Holocaust dispels competing myths that Americans were either ignorant of the unspeakable persecution that Jewish people and other targeted minorities faced in Europe or that they looked on with callous indifference. The film tackles a range of questions that remain essential to our society today, including how racism influences policies related to immigration and refugees and how governments and people respond to the rise of authoritarian states that manipulate history and facts to consolidate power.
For more information about The U.S. and the Holocaust, visit the official website here. Episodes will be available to stream on-demand at watch.ripbs.org.
The Golden Door (Beginnings – 1938) - Thursday, October 6 at 9 p.m.
After decades of maintaining open borders, a xenophobic backlash prompts Congress to pass its first laws restricting immigration. Meanwhile, in Germany, Hitler and the Nazis begin their persecution of Jewish people, causing many to try to flee to neighboring countries or America. Franklin Roosevelt and other world leaders are concerned by the growing refugee crisis but fail to coordinate a response.
Yearning to Breathe Free (1938 – 1942) - Thursday, October 13 at 9 p.m.
As World War II begins, Americans are united in their disapproval of Nazi brutality but divided on whether to act. Some individuals and organizations work tirelessly to help refugees escape. Meanwhile, Charles Lindbergh and isolationists battle with Roosevelt to try to keep America out of the war. Germany invades the Soviet Union and secretly begins the mass murder of European Jews.
The Homeless, Tempest-Tossed (1942 – ) - Thursday, October 20 at 9 p.m.
A group of dedicated government officials fights red tape to finance and support rescue operations. As the Allied soldiers advance, uncovering mass graves and liberating German concentration camps, the public sees for the first time the sheer scale of the Holocaust and begins to reckon with its reverberations.
Local broadcast of The U.S. and the Holocaust is sponsored in part by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.
WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; DirecTV 36, Dish Network 36. Rhode Island PBS is now available to subscribers of YouTubeTV. The full schedule on Rhode Island PBS is available to live stream in real-time within the broadcast viewing area at watch.ripbs.org/livestream. An expansive catalog of PBS series, documentaries, and specials is available to Rhode Island PBS members through Rhode Island PBS Passport.
