The Holocaust was a watershed event in human history. In the aftermath of World War II, the world—from individual nations to the United Nations; from religious leaders to professionals in fields as diverse as law, medicine, and science; from presidents and prime ministers to private citizens—confronted its legacy. Many of the issues raised by this cataclysmic event continue to have an impact on our lives and the world in which we live.
View the Museum brochure A Changed World (PDF).
Listed below are significant changes that have occurred in light of the moral failures that allowed the Holocaust to happen, and related links to learn more.
NATIONS PLEDGED TO PREVENT AND PUNISH THE CRIME OF “GENOCIDE.”
History of Genocide Timeline
CRIMINAL TRIALS ESTABLISHED THAT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WHO COMMIT CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY COULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE BY INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS
The Nuremberg Trials and Their Legacy
War Crimes Trials (Holocaust Encyclopedia article)
Justice and Accountability
INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS EXPANDED DRAMATICALLY
Confront Genocide
THE IDEA OF “INFORMED CONSENT” INFLUENCED ETHICAL APPROACHES TO MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION ON HUMAN BEINGS
The Doctors Trial (online exhibition)
Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race (online exhibition)
PROTECTIONS FOR REFUGEES WERE BROADENED
Staring Genocide in the Face
Voyage of the St. Louis (online exhibition)
Refugees (Holocaust Encyclopedia article)
Varian Fry (Holocaust Encyclopedia article)
THE IDEA OF A JEWISH HOMELAND GAINED URGENCY
Life Reborn: Jewish Displaced Persons 1945–1951 (online exhibition)
THE MOVEMENT TOWARD RECONCILIATION BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND JEWS ADVANCED
Confront Antisemitism
The Interfaith Story behind Nostra Aetate
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