IsraelCast Episode 151

As one of the leading experts on the Holocaust, Dr. Rafael Medoff has been an outspoken critic of western countries and their reticence to support European Jews before and during WWII. According to Medoff, at every turn where America could have supported the persecuted population, they instead callously went out of their way to find reasons not to get involved. Host Steven Shalowitz sits down with Medoff to discuss his thoughts on the recent Ken Burns documentary on the Holocaust, the politics behind countries not helping Jews as much as they could have, and whether FDR would have supported a Jewish state.

Dr. Rafael Medoff is the founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, based in Washington, D.C., which focuses on America's response to Nazism and the Holocaust. He has authored more than 20 books about the Holocaust, Zionism, and American Jewish history, including The Historical Dictionary of Zionism, and has contributed to the Encyclopedia Judaica and many other reference volumes. Dr. Medoff has also taught and lectured at U.S. universities and is a member of the Committee on Ethics in Jewish Leadership, which promotes the values of democracy, accountability, and transparency in American Jewish organizations.