MCC Daily Tribune

Exhibit to Highlight Jim Crow Era & Nuremberg Race Laws

In 1943, when Private William Alexander "W.A." Scott III was drafted into the United States Army, Jim Crow segregation was deeply entrenched in all facets of the country. As an African-American, Scott served as photographer in a segregated battalion for people of color. On April 11, 1945, Scott rode into Eisenach, Germany, on an Army convoy with the 8th Corps of General George S. Patton's 3rd Army. That afternoon they entered Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps established by the Nazis within German borders. Scott became one of the first Allied soldiers to enter the camp and liberate prisoners of the Holocaust. The African American soldiers liberating the camp could hardly overlook the irony of their own status in an army that considered them inferiors, even as they fought to defeat the Nazi army that carried the banner of racial supremacy. Following the war, Scott went on to become circulation manager of the Atlanta Daily World and he served on the committee to celebrate the first official national holiday commemorating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition to being a member of the Tuskegee Airmen and a tireless civil rights activist, Scott was appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial in 1991.

Scott's singular experience is documented in a photographic essay titled "Witness to the Holocaust," which includes the photographic record of the Holocaust he helped to establish. Additionally, the exhibit draws parallels between the United States' Jim Crow Laws of the 1880s-1960s (later overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965) and the Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935-1945 implemented in Germany and Nazi-controlled areas of Europe. Through 10 panels in chronological order, the story of segregation and oppression in various countries (including our own) is thoughtfully shared.

The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project, in partnership with the Office of Global Education and International Services and the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, is proud to welcome the "Witness to the Holocaust" exhibit to the Brighton campus' Leroy V. Good Library from October 29 through November 16. This period coincides both with the Project's annual Kristallnacht program (Monday, November 5 on both the Brighton and Downtown campuses) and International Education Week (November 12-16).

The "Witness to the Holocaust" exhibit also will be open to the public during the following times:

Mondays-Thursdays: 3-9pm
Fridays: 8am-4pm
Saturdays: 11am-4pm

Public parking in Lot V. Please mark your calendars and plan to view this remarkable exhibit on the main floor of the Leroy V. Good Library!

Regina Fabbro
Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project
10/01/2018