Start of Main Content
Upcoming Events Calendar

Hispanic Americans Sacrificing to Serve Their Country

Virtual Event
Mexican American Army medic Anthony Acevedo (center) before serving in World War II, exact date unknown. USHMM, gift of Anthony Acevedo

Mexican American Army medic Anthony Acevedo (center) before serving in World War II, exact date unknown. USHMM, gift of Anthony Acevedo

Tony Acevedo was a devoted American despite the discrimination he faced because of his Mexican heritage. He was among more than 500,000 Latino men and women who served the US military during World War II.

Even after he was captured and tortured by the Germans, Tony’s dedication to his fellow soldiers never wavered. He tended to their medical and spiritual needs and risked his life to record their experiences in captivity in a secret diary. Join us during Hispanic Heritage Month as we recognize the courageous contributions Tony and other Mexican Americans made to help the Allies defeat Nazi Germany and win the war.

Guest
Christina Chavarría, Program Coordinator, Education Initiatives, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The program will be captioned in Spanish.

Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. You do not need a Facebook account to view our program. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

Related

  • Americanos Todos, Luchamos por la Victoria

    This bilingual poster encouraging wartime unity of Mexico and America was designed by Leon Helguera, a Mexican artist who immigrated to America in 1916, and was commissioned by the Office of Wartime Information (OWI).

    Learn More
  • Americans and the Holocaust: Anthony Acevedo

    Anthony Acevedo was a Mexican American who served as a US Army medic during World War II. He was captured by German troops during the Battle of the Bulge and held as a POW in the Berga forced labor camp, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. While there, he kept a secret diary of his experiences, including a record of his fellow American soldiers’ deaths.

    Learn More
  • Tony: A Soldier’s Journey

    This episode of the Museum’s Behind Every Name Animated Video Series describes how Tony was captured in January 1945 and taken to a POW camp, where he and his comrades were beaten and tortured. Tony recorded every atrocity and death he witnessed in a secret diary to honor his fellow soldiers and keep their memory alive. 

    Learn More