Edwin Black, an award-winning,
New York Timesbestselling international investigative author, will lead an intellectual dialogue on “American Eugenics – From Long Island to Auschwitz” at the University of Miami next month.
Sponsored by the UM
Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies, the George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studiesin the College of Arts & Sciences and UM’s Ethics Programs, Black’s discussion revolves around his book, “War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race.”
Black’s investigative chronicle digs into how American corporate philanthropies helped fund the Nazi eugenics experiments of Adolf Hitler and “The Angel of Death,” Dr. Josef Mengele, argues how American corporate philanthropies created a campaign for ethnic cleansing across the United States, and presents the consequences found in modern-day genetic practices.
According to Dr. Haim Shaked, professor of International Studies and director of the George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies at UM, “this is an important story that must be told and remembered in every generation so that it never happens again.” It is particularly significant since this winter marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Allied troops.
To compile “War Against the Weak,” Black and a team of 50 researchers worked their way through archives in four countries, accumulating nearly 50,000 documents to reference for the book, which won the World Affairs Council’s award for “Best Book of 2003” for International Human Affairs. An expanded edition with new chapters, photos and documentation was released in 2012.
Published in 14 languages and in 65 countries, Black has also published many newspaper and magazine articles in the leading publications of the United States, Europe and Israel. The majority of his works focus on human rights, genocide and hate, as well as corporate criminality and corruption, governmental misconduct, philanthropic abuse and historical investigation.
The lecture will be held at the UM Miller Center Auditorium on Monday, February 23, at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the University community and the public. To RSVP, email ccjs@miami.edu or call 305-284-6882. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
