To mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, which this year begins on the evening of April 7, International March of the Living, together with the Maimonides Institute for Ethics and the Holocaust, the Miller Center at Rutgers University, the USC Shoah Foundation and Teva Pharmaceuticals will be holding hold an online symposium on “Medicine and Morality: Lessons from the Holocaust and COVID-19.”
The program, scheduled to air at 7 p.m. EST, will include testimony from survivors who were both persecuted by Nazi doctors and saved by medical professionals during the Holocaust. It will also feature world-renowned medical professionals and researchers who will discuss medical resistance during the Holocaust, the legacy of Nazi medicine, and what the Holocaust can teach us about the ethics of care.
During the symposium, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president, will receive the “Moral Courage in Medicine” award for his work in combating COVID-19, his long history of leading the battle against infectious diseases, and his dedication to the health and well-being of humankind. The event will also include a performance of “Schindler’s List” by Grammy Award winner and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador of Music Miri Ben-Ari, herself the descendant of Holocaust survivors. Participating organizations include the World Medical Association, the Department of Education of the UNESCO Chair of Bioethics, the Israeli Medical Association, the Canadian Medical Association, the Indian Medical Association, the South African Medical Association and many others.
International March of the Living vice chairman and professor David Machlis, and founding director of the Maimonides Institute for Ethics and the Holocaust Dr. Stacy Gallin, noted that this year, in particular, it was appropriate to honor the activities and heroism of the medical community during the Holocaust by inviting practicing medical professionals to participate in all March of the Living events.
“We believe that hundreds of medical staff and medical students will tune in to watch a program that will be both informative and poignant,” said Machlis.
Anyone interested in watching the symposium can register here.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
