We invite you to join us for the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Monday 29 January 2024.
This year we will be hosting a panel discussion on the importance of democracy.
Moderated by MHM Head of Exhibitions & Programming Dr Breann Fallon, the panel discussion will see three expert panelists explore the importance of democracy through the lens of their unique experiences – both lived and professional – to better understand the fragility of our freedom.
The event will also feature an address from guest speaker and Holocaust survivor Nina Bassat AM.
Artwork | Detail from Evidence of Evil, 1993/2022, a graphic light installation created by Stih & Schnock for the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, representing a selection of antisemitic laws and decrees passed by the Nazi regime between 1933-1945.
Nina was born on 8 April 1939 in Lwów, Poland. Nina and her mother survived the Holocaust and came to Australia in 1949 as refugees after two years in a displaced person’s camp in Germany. They settled in Melbourne. Nina studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne, and served as president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and as president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
Image | The Australian website
Daniel is a senior lecturer in East European Jewish History at Monash University’s Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation. His areas of research specialisation are East European Jewish history, the history of humanitarian aid and international development, and the history of Zionism and modern Israel.
Image | Stanford University website.
Nyadol was born in a refugee camp in Itang, Ethiopia, raised in several refugee camps and separated from her mother at a very young age before moving to Australia at the age of 18. Nyadol has completed a Bachelor of Arts at Victoria University and her Juris Doctor at the University of Melbourne. Nyadol is a vocal advocate for human rights, focusing on legal reform, social justice, and multiculturalism.
Image | Victoria University website.
Kylie is an Australian political scientist specialising in Islam and the Middle East. Kylie speaks several Middle Eastern languages and has spent significant periods travelling and conducting academic research in the region. In 2018 she was wrongfully detained during a research trip to Iran, and served more than two years of a ten-year sentence before being freed in November 2020 in a prisoner exchange deal.
Kylie is the author of the bestselling 2022 memoir ‘The Uncaged Sky’
Image | Speaking out website
