The Downers Grove Public Library is one of 50 U.S. libraries newly selected to host “Americans and the Holocaust,” a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association (ALA) that examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.

Following a successful tour to 50 libraries from 2021 to 2023, the touring library exhibition — based on the special exhibition of the same name at the Museum in Washington, D.C. — will travel to an additional 50 U.S. libraries from 2024 to 2026, covering wide distances from Hawaii and Alaska to Texas and New Hampshire.

The exhibit will be at the library, along with a series of related special events, from April 14 to May 19.

“It is an honor to bring this important experience to our Downers Grove community, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share it. We are so proud to have been selected from a competitive pool of applicants from across the country, and appreciate the support our partners such as the village of Downers Grove and districts 58 and 99, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum (IHM) and Education Center gave us during the process.

“The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as every sixth grade class in District 58 will have their students explore the exhibit while IHM renovates the exhibit that is normally used during the District 58 WWII unit,” Jen Ryjewski, assistant library director, said in a news release.

“We hope community members come to explore the exhibit, reflect on what history means to them personally, and consider the responsibilities today and in the years ahead,” she said.

“Bringing this exhibit to the library is one of the most important things I will do as a librarian,” Mary McDonald, adult programming coordinator, said in a release. “Watching the library come together to prepare for the exhibit has been truly special. It has been incredible connecting with leading experts in the field. I’m particularly excited about the opportunity for community members to hear from the curator of the exhibit this April, and leading historians in May.”

The 1,100-square-foot exhibition examines various aspects of American society: the government, the military, refugee aid organizations, the media and the general public.

Drawing on a collection of primary sources from the 1930s and ’40s, the exhibition tells the stories of Americans who acted in response to Nazism, challenging the commonly held assumptions that Americans knew little and did nothing about the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews as the Holocaust unfolded. It provides a portrait of American society that shows how the Depression, isolationism, xenophobia, racism and antisemitism shaped responses to Nazism and the Holocaust.

In addition to the traveling exhibition on loan, the library received a $3,000 cash grant to support public programs. The grant also covered one library staff member’s attendance at an orientation workshop at the museum.

The library invites the community to a grand opening of the exhibit at 6:30 p.m. April 14 as the library commemorates the event on Yom HaShoah, a day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, with a community-led Reading of the Names.

Patrons will have the opportunity to see the exhibit and reflect on the direct and indirect consequences of the American reaction to the Holocaust.

For more information about “Americans and the Holocaust” and related programming at the library, visit dglibrary.org/aath-exhibit. To learn more about the exhibition, visit ushmm.org/americans-ala.