Alex Haslam, professor of social and organizational psychology, University of Queensland, Australia

Since the Holocaust, social psychologists have asked: Why do people succumb to evil? Theories point to peer pressure and the power of conformity. But Alex Haslam and Steve Reicher reject the idea that people become automatons in a group. Their mock-prison study reveals something more complex about the ways individuals sign on to a brutal agenda.

Topics: Academic perspectives, Justice and law

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Pardeep Kaleka, co-founder, Serve 2 Unite

In the wake of his father's murder by a white supremacist at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Pardeep Kaleka has become a powerful voice against hate crime and violence. Kaleka helped found the organization Serve 2 Unite, which brings together young people from different religious and cultural backgrounds.

Topics: Activists, Being an outsider, Identity and religion

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Stephen Mills, artistic director, Ballet Austin, Texas

In 2005, Stephen Mills created a dance based on the life of Holocaust survivor Naomi Warren. The work would grow into a community-wide endeavor known as Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project. A collaboration of artists, institutions, and educators, the work has had far-reaching effects on both audiences and creators.

Topics: Artists, Burden of memory, Responding to genocide

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Hasan Sarbakhshian and Parvaneh Vahidmanesh, co-authors, Iranian Jews (2007-2009)

Hasan Sarbakhshian and Parvaneh Vahidmanesh gathered stories and photographs from Iran's dwindling Jewish population for their book Iranian Jews. The effort would eventually cause them to flee Iran, their homeland, for the United States.

Topics: Artists, Holocaust denial, Propaganda and the media

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Kathleen Blee, professor of sociology, University of Pittsburgh

Prof. Kathleen Blee has written several books about racism and the Ku Klux Klan. Blee looks in particular at ways the KKK was able to infiltrate mainstream America in the 1920s, by focusing its membership efforts on moderates, not extremists—a strategy repeated by the Nazis shortly thereafter.

Topics: Academic perspectives, Propaganda and the media

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Rita Jahanforuz, Iranian-born Israeli pop singer

Iranian-born Rita Jahanforuz is one of the biggest pop stars in Israel. With the release of her recent album, sung almost entirely in her native Farsi, Rita is developing a fan base in Iran as well, despite the fact that her music is banned there. Although she does not consider herself a political person, Rita is proof that individuals can challenge a system of state-sponsored antisemitism by reaching across cultural boundaries.

Topics: Artists, Holocaust denial, Popular culture figures

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Edward T. Linenthal, editor, Journal of American History, and professor of history, Indiana University

Edward Linenthal believes memorials serve a complex and important role in society, to help us mourn and remember, but also to encourage a dynamic engagement with history.

Topics: Academic perspectives, Burden of memory, The role of education

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Colbert I. King, columnist, The Washington Post

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Colbert King has a reputation for direct and plainspoken commentaries. In a recent column, King expressed frustration with what he calls the "tepid" international response to state-sponsored antisemitism in Iran.

Topics: Journalists

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Jamel Bettaieb, high-school teacher and activist, Tunisia

Jamel Bettaieb teaches German to high-school students, which affords him an opportunity that is rare in Tunisia: to teach about the Holocaust. An active participant in Tunisia's recent revolution, Bettaieb strives to be an agent of change in the Muslim world, pushing back against propaganda, antisemitism, and silence about the Holocaust.

Topics: Activists, Impact of youth, The role of education

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Jeremy Waldron, professor, New York University School of Law

Jeremy Waldron calls the topic of hate speech a “hardy perennial” and one we must continue to revisit. In his book The Harm in Hate Speech, Waldron examines First Amendment legal protections and considers the damage inflicted on society by hate speech.

Topics: Academic perspectives, Justice and law

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