March 31, 2021, Tel Aviv – On April 7th, the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Jewish calendar, International March of the Living, together with the Maimonides Institute for Ethics and the Holocaust, the Miller Center at Rutgers University, the USC Shoah Foundation and Teva Pharmaceuticals, will hold a special symposium on “Medicine and Morality: Lessons from the Holocaust and COVID-19”.
At a time which has shed light on global health and medical professionals, this year’s special event will discuss the nexus between medicine, ethics, and the Holocaust. The program will include testimony from survivors who were both persecuted by Nazi doctors as well as saved by medical professionals during the Holocaust. It will also feature world renowned medical professionals and researchers who will discuss medical resistance during the Holocaust, the legacy of Nazi medicine and what the Holocaust can teach us about the ethics of care. During the symposium, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the U.S. President, will receive the “Moral Courage in Medicine” award for his work in combatting COVID-19, his long history of leading the battle against infectious diseases, and his dedication to the health and wellbeing of humankind.
The event will also include a moving performance of ‘Schindler’s List’ by Grammy Award winner and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador of Music, Miri Ben-Ari. A renowned violinist, producer and humanitarian, Ben-Ari is also the descendant of Holocaust survivors.
Speakers at the event include:
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Dr. Michael Berenbaum, world renowned Holocaust Educator
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Dr. Otmar Kloiber, Secretary General, World Medical Association and Former Deputy Secretary General of the German Medical Association
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Dr. David Urion, Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Faculty Member of the Center for Bioethics
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Dr. Ashley Fernandes, MD, PhD, Associate Director of the Center for Bioethics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine
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Dr. Eran Harary, VP, TA Head, Neurology and Psychiatry, Global Specialty R&D
Vice-Chair of the International March of the Living, Prof. David Machlis, and Founding Director of the Maimonides Institute for Ethics and the Holocaust, Dr. Stacy Gallin, noted that this year in particular, it is appropriate to honor the activities and heroism of the medical community during the Holocaust, by inviting practicing medical professionals to participate in all of the March’s events. “We believe that hundreds of medical staff and medical students will tune in to watch a program that will be both informative and poignant,” said Prof. Machlis. Dr. Eran Harary, VP, head of TEVA , Neurology and Psychiatry, Global Specialty R&D: Kåre Shultz, President & CEO, Teva Pharmaceuticals: " Teva is proudly and humbly participating in this year's March of the Living, and salutes the Holocaust survivors and all those who cherish its victims. For 120 years Teva has held the banner of the Israeli pharmaceutical Industry, and tirelessly strives to provide access to life-improving medicines for millions of people around the world. Joining the March of the Living represents on behalf of all our employees a loud and clear call that all of us as One Teva will never forget the lessons of the Holocaust and never leave behind those who live with its scars every day." International March of the Living is the largest annual international Holocaust education program which, until the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020, has taken place in Poland and Israel without interruption, since its inception in 1988. To date, close to 300,000 International March of the Living participants have marched en masse along the 3.2-kilometer path from Auschwitz to Birkenau, against prejudice, intolerance and hate and in tribute to the greatest loss in the history of the Jewish people. The event will be broadcast online on Wednesday 7 April at 19.00 ET. Visit the following link to register: https://www.motl.org/medicine/ Promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX39O_Z1YOM&t=5s
The Nazis and their collaborators worked systematically to exterminate our people, conducting monstrous experiments. From a people that were condemned to death and destruction during the Holocaust, we are now a nation engaged in preserving life.
