Historian to Present “Banality of Virtue: Midwestern Responses to the Holocaust”

Apr 18, 2019

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Historian Michael Luick-Thrams will present “Banality of Virtue: Midwestern Responses to the Holocaust” on Sunday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m. in Jackaline Baldwin Dunlap Technology Center’s Hadley Auditorium on the University of Dubuque campus.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The presentation is sponsored by the University of Dubuque, Carnegie-Stout Public Library, Children of Abraham, and Temple Beth El.

In his presentation, Luick-Thrams will use examples from Dubuque and Iowa to discuss antisemitism during World War II as well as the efforts to welcome and integrate Jewish and other refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe. He will also discuss how echoes of antisemitism, hostility toward immigrants, and the xenophobia of the past can still be heard today.

Luick-Thrams has been working with Alan Garfield, professor of digital art and design at UD, on Iowan responses to the Holocaust for 20 years.