Tracing the Holocaust from persecution to justice, this series explores its history, legacy, and meaning in our time.
ONLINE
THURSDAY, 10:00-11:30am (ET) December 4 -18, 2025
“The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated.”
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Chief U.S. Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials,
opening statement, November 21, 1945
Course Description:
Marking 80 years since the end of the Shoah and the opening of the Nuremberg Trials, this three-part series traces the Holocaust’s history, lived experiences, and enduring impact. Led by Dr. Isaac Amon—lawyer, legal historian, JHA Director of Academic Research, and former ISIS war crimes investigator—we will explore how centuries of antisemitism became state-sponsored law and systematic mass murder; how Jews across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East responded with resilience, resistance, and remembrance; and how the postwar pursuit of justice at Nuremberg shaped modern international law. Along the way, we will honor the Righteous Among the Nations, reflect on the moral power of individual action, and confront the urgent responsibility of remembrance as the survivor generation fades. Together, we will ask how the legacies of persecution, resilience, and justice can guide us in an era of rising antisemitism and historical distortion.
Sessions:
1. The Road to Auschwitz: Antisemitism & The Nazi War Against the Jews
2. Inside the Fire: Jewish Resilience, Resistance, and Remembrance
3. Justice and Courage: The Nuremberg Trials & The Righteous Among the Nations
THURSDAY, 10:00 - 11:30am (ET)
Dr. Isaac Amon is an attorney and counselor at law, Adjunct Professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and Director of Academic Research at Jewish Heritage Alliance, an educational platform dedicated to promoting the legacy of Sefarad, or Iberian Jewry. He was a Legal Fellow at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Legislative Director at the Missouri Department of Corrections, and an ISIS war crimes investigator. In Summer 2024, he was a scholar in-residence at Oxford University through the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP). The grandson of Ashkenazi, Sefardi, and Mizrahi immigrants to the United States in the 20th century, he often speaks on the law, international criminal justice, and Jewish memory, including antisemitism, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust.
