12 Years That Shook the World

Combatants and Protectors

When the Germans invade the Soviet Union in 1941, three Jewish brothers prepare to fight back. Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski hide in a dense forest, and form a group of resistance fighters. While surviving in the forbidding wilderness, they also rescue Jews, and try to hold on to a sense of community. Featuring historian Dr. J. Luke Ryder.

April 28, 2021

26 min

Convinced

All her life, Pauline Kneissler wanted to become a nurse. And in 1939, she is recruited by the Nazis to be a nurse in a secret killing operation. Will she be forced to murder? Or will she choose to become a killer? Featuring historian Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice.

April 21, 2021

13 min

Bad Conscience

Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie, and his friends at the University of Munich secretly form a resistance group called “The White Rose.” They distribute messages condemning the Nazi regime, and speak out on behalf of Jews. Until one morning in 1943, they’re caught. Featuring Dr. Rebecca Dupas.

April 14, 2021

23 min

Resister in a Nazi Uniform

Kurt Gerstein, a Nazi SS officer, is asked to supply the chemical Zyklon B to the Auschwitz killing center in 1942. But once Gerstein sees that the chemical will be used to murder Jews in gas chambers— he makes an unexpected move. Featuring historian Dr. Jürgen Matthäus.

April 7, 2021

21 min

Accidental Witness

While visiting Vienna, Austria with her family in March 1938, American Helen Baker finds herself caught up in a pivotal moment. She watches as the Nazis move in and annex Austria. Then, she steps into the story, herself. Featuring historian Dr. Rebecca Erbelding.

March 31, 2021

23 min

Season 1 Trailer

12 Years That Shook the World explores stories of real people, the choices they made, and specific moments in Holocaust history from 1933-1945. From the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, this podcast is released in seasons, twice-yearly.

March 29, 2021

2 min

Thousands of False Identities

From an office in Geneva, Switzerland, two friends—a Jewish businessman and the Salvadoran colonel who rescued him—manufactured thousands of false citizenship documents that protected Jews in Nazi-controlled Europe. This is the story of the largest Holocaust rescue you’ve never heard of. Featuring Edna Friedberg, a historian at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Music: “Rainfall Serenade,” and “Scenery” “by Kai Engel; “Floating,” “Feeling,” and “Memoir of Solitude” by Borrtex; “Clean Soul” by Kevin MacLeod; “I am a man who will fight for your honor,” “Land on the Golden Gate,” and “There are many different kinds of love” by Chris Zabriskie)

December 18, 2018

15 min

Genocide, 1948

“We are in the presence of a crime without a name,” Winston Churchill said in a 1941 speech. At the time of the Holocaust, there was no legal definition for an atrocity on such an enormous scale. And there wouldn’t be one for seven more years—until the United Nations adopted the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. How has this document been applied in a post-Holocaust world? Featuring Cameron Hudson, Senior Strategy Advisor and former director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Music: “Scenery” by Kai Engel; “Dark Matter,” “Dry Air,” “Netherland,” and “Vibe Drive” by Podington Bear; “Lurking” by Silent Partner; and “Houston Vibes Score” by Unicorn Heads.)