Press Release: February 26, 2010

National Archives at Kansas City

ALERT: Media Tour of Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race exhibition

For More Information Contact:

National Archives, Dee Harris
816-268-8000
Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, Jean Zeldin,
913-327-8191

Kansas City, (MO)…At 10:00 a.m. on Friday, March 12 the National Archives at Kansas City, in partnership with the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, will offer a preview tour for members of the media to view, Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race a traveling exhibition from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, sponsored locally by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. Members of the media will be allowed to photograph, videotape and speak with members of the National Archives and Midwest Center for Holocaust Education staff. In addition, attendees will receive information about scheduled community events related to the exhibition.

Deadly Medicine, which opens at the National Archives on March 16, examines how Nazi leadership, in collaboration with individuals in professions traditionally charged with healing and the public good, used science to help legitimize persecution, murder and, ultimately, genocide. From 1933–1945, Nazi Germany enlisted the help of physicians, scientists, public health officials and academic experts to develop racial policies aimed at “cleansing” German society of individuals viewed as biological threats to the nation’s “health”. What began with the mass sterilization of “genetically diseased” persons resulted in the near annihilation of European Jewry. This exhibition features original artifacts, photographs, documents and historic film footage illustrating how Hitler’s Nazi regime implemented its vision of an ethnically homogeneous community through a program of racial eugenics that culminated in the Holocaust.

The tour begins promptly at 10:00 a.m. All interested media should RSVP to: 816-268-8072 or by e-mailing: kimberlee.ried@nara.gov

The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 13 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to more than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies. Serving the Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. The National Archives at Kansas City is open Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. for exhibits viewing and Tuesday-Saturday from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. for research.

The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE) was founded in 1993 by Holocaust survivors. Our mission is to teach the history and lessons of the Holocaust, applying its lessons to counter indifference, intolerance, and genocide. Located at the Jewish Community Campus in Overland Park, KS, MCHE serves people of all faiths and cultures in Kansas, western Missouri and elsewhere in the Midwest. We serve teachers, students (primarily grades 7 through college) as well as civic and community groups through exhibits, speakers, films, an annual essay contest, teacher education, and a resource library. We honor local survivors and their experiences by recording and communicating their stories to every generation. To find out more, go to www.mchekc.org.

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NREA 10–17

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