Ackerman Chronicle

On October 5, 2021, the Ackerman Center hosted a special guest lecture, “The Surprising Global Legacy of Anne Frank,” given by Gillian Walnes Perry MBE, who is co-founder and Honorary Vice President of the Anne Frank Trust in the UK. She introduced her lecture by telling the audience that it was her mission to bring Anne Frank to life and give insight into her family's background.

Perry began by giving a biography of Anne’s father, Otto Frank, describing his family’s highly regarded position in German society and the path that led him to settle in Amsterdam in 1933. Perry then went on to detail the Frank family’s life in Amsterdam until they were eventually discovered in 1944. She spoke in great detail of the lives they led and the people they were, sharing some of the lesser-known parts of the story. She continued her lecture with the family's discovery and tragic deaths of Edith, Margot, and Anne Frank. Perry traced the trajectory of Otto Frank's life that led to the founding of the Anne Frank house and the legacy he created by publishing his youngest daughter’s now-famous diary.

Perry concluded with a discussion of the Anne Frank exhibition, which has traveled to several countries around the world, and the impact that it has had all over the world. Through this outreach program, teenagers are trained to be guides to the traveling exhibition that visits schools, and Holocaust survivors are brought into prisons and schools to educate and share their stories with prisoners about the Holocaust. In her closing remarks, Perry emphasized the impact that Anne Frank has had, and continues to have on so many around the world today.

You can watch the recording of this lecture by clicking here.

The Israeli National Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem grants the title of “Righteous Among the Nations” to the relatively few non-Jews who risked their lives to help persecuted Jews survive the Holocaust. Join Mrs. Winkler, who is currently curating a new permanent exhibit on the Holocaust at the museum in Santiago, as she tries to show, among other aspects, the socioeconomic diversity of the almost 28,000 recognized rescuers and the multiple ways they helped the Jews. Trying to answer the question of whether the rescuers were “ordinary” people, the lecture briefly examines a few studies that aim at understanding the Righteous´ psychological profiles, which could shed light on the origins of the courageous and determined behavior of these people, necessary to carry out the extraordinary rescue actions.

Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here.

Dr. Wildenthal was a longtime friend and champion of the Center, and we are proud to be part of the important legacy that he leaves at UT Dallas. Learn more about the instrumental role he played in the creation and growth of the Ackerman Center in this video, which was made when he was honored with the inaugural Edward M. Ackerman Leadership Award in 2019.

The Wildenthal family has announced the details for Dr. Wildenthal's memorial service, to be held on October 14th at 2pm on the UT Dallas Campus. Any friends of the Ackerman Center who would like to attend are welcome.

The family has graciously asked for gifts to be made to the Ackerman Center, Wildenthal Honors College, or another charity of choice in lieu of flowers. Gifts can be made via a dedicated memorial giving page by clicking here. You can select where your gift goes by using the drop-down menu.

The Ackerman Center is a distinguished and publicly-engaged academic center that offers an in-depth view of the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights studies within a dedicated facility. Click here or on the thumbnail above to learn more.

Cynthia Seton-Rogers

Academic and Outreach Events Manager

Angie Simmons
Graduate Research Assistant