Kristallnacht Commemoration and Presentation with author Joshua Greene on his book, Unstoppable: Siggi B. Wilzig’s Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend

Kristallnacht Commemoration & discussion with author Joshua Greene on his book, Unstoppable: Siggi B. Wilzig’s Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend

The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration features a commemorative service and candle lighting followed by our keynote speaker and author Joshua Greene. Greene is a lecturer on Holocaust history, an author who traces the lives of spiritual seekers, and an entertaining communicator. A former instructor at Hofstra and Fordham universities, Greene is a recipient of numerous awards for his historical biographies and documentary films.

“We remember Kristallnacht because it was the first act of widespread violence against the Jews by the Nazis and was a prelude to the murder of six million innocent people,” said Erin Blankenship, The FHM’s Interim Executive Director.

Additionally, this year’s commemoration will include free Museum admission from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Unstoppable is the ultimate immigrant story and an epic David-and-Goliath adventure. While American teens were socializing in ice cream parlors, Siggi was suffering beatings by Nazi hoodlums for being a Jew and was soon deported along with his family to the darkest place the world has ever known: Auschwitz. Siggi used his wits to stay alive, pretending to have trade skills the Nazis could exploit to run the camp. After two death marches and near starvation, he was liberated from camp Mauthausen and went to work for the US Army hunting Nazis, a service that earned him a visa to America. On arrival, he made three vows: to never go hungry again, to support the Jewish people, and to speak out against injustice. He earned his first dollar shoveling snow after a fierce blizzard. His next job was laboring in toxic sweatshops. From these humble beginnings, he became President, Chairman and CEO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed oil company and grew a full-service commercial bank to more than $4 billion in assets.

Kristallnacht owes its name to the shards of shattered glass that lined German streets from broken windows on November 9-10 in 1938. Throughout the night, thousands of Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and synagogues were ransacked and destroyed in a coordinated series of attacks throughout Germany. This was the first widespread use of massive force against Jews by the Nazi regime and figures as an essential turning point in Nazi Germany

This lecture event is free and open to the public.

About the Speaker

Greene has written several acclaimed books, including the bestseller Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison. His book Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor, was called “Riveting—historical writing at its best” by Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian for CNN. His renowned work on survivor testimony, Witness: Voices from the Holocaust, was the basis of a feature documentary for national PBS, that was named “One of the Ten Best Holocaust Films” by Facets Media.

Greene has been a featured speaker at the Pentagon, and the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School, and was honored by the New York Public Library Distinguished Author series. He is a regular instructor before State Bar Associations on issues of war crimes law. He has spoken on issues of Holocaust memory for such outlets as NPR and Fox News, and his related editorials have appeared in print in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune, among others.

Greene sits on the Board of the Yale University Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. While senior vice president for Global Affairs at Ruder Finn Communications in the early 2000s, he served as director of Strategic Planning for the United Nations Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders.

Among his documentary films are Hitler’s Courts: Betrayal of the Rule of Law in Nazi Germany, which aired on PBS, and Memory After Belsen: The Future of Holocaust Remembrance for Discovery. He is recipient of five “Best Program of the Year” awards from TV Guide, an Emmy nomination for “PEOPLE: A Celebration of Diversity” which debuted at the United Nations, and many other honors and distinctions.

He is author of a series of Holocaust survivor memoirs for Scholastic that have sold more than a quarter million copies. Currently, he teaches Mindfulness in the Workplace for the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University.

About The Florida Holocaust Museum

One of the largest Holocaust Museums in the country, and one of three nationally accredited Holocaust Museums, The Florida Holocaust Museum honors the memory of millions of men, women, and children who suffered or died in the Holocaust. The FHM is dedicated to teaching members of all races and cultures the inherent worth and dignity of human life in order to prevent future genocides. For additional information, please visit www.TheFHM.org