The Hidden Holocaust

Presented by special guest…

Father Patrick Desbois

A French Catholic priest, Vatican Consultant,& Founder and President of Yahad-In Unum

Sunday, October 28 at 2 p.m.

Cathedral Square Center, 360 Division Ave S, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Free Event.  Registration Required.  Please click here to register: www.bit.ly/HiddenHolocaust

 Not recommended for children under the age of 13.

While much has been documented about the genocide of Jewish people in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, French priest, Father Patrick Desbois, has worked for more than a decade to shed light on the “hidden Holocaust” in other places throughout Europe.

Father Desbois is a sleuth of sorts, who has uncovered sites in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova and Lithuania where 1.5 million Jews were executed. He has devoted his life to fighting anti-Semitism, all forms of mass violence and to furthering relations between Catholics and Jews.

Father Desbois is the founder and president of Yahad-In Unum (meaning “together” “in one”.) This international organization works to raise awareness about the sites where Jewish and Roma mass executions were carried out by Nazi mobile-killing units during World War II.  The work he has done is remarkable.  With the help of more than 5,300 eyewitnesses, he has identified more than 2,100 execution sites in Eastern Europe.  Father Desbois will discuss his humanitarian mission during this special event.

Underwriters and sponsors:

This program would not be possible without the generous support of the Ravitz Foundation, the Henry Pestka Charitable Fund, and the Joseph Stevens Freedom   Endowment of Grand Valley State University.  The event is also co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids, the Diocese of Grand Rapids, the Catholic Information Center, the Cathedral of Saint Andrew, and the Kaufman Interfaith Institute.

Father Patrick Desbois is a French Catholic priest, head of the Commission for Relations with Judaism of the French   Bishops’ Conference and a Vatican consultant. He is the founder of Yahad-In Unum, an organization dedicated to locating the sites of mass graves of Jewish victims of the Nazi mobile-killing units in the former Soviet Union. He received the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest    honor, for his work documenting the Holocaust. In 2016, he joined the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University as a full-time professor.

Father Desbois has been a guest speaker at the United Nations and was featured on 60 Minutes. Many news articles have been written about his mission, including by the New York Times.   Father Desbois is the author of several bestselling books including, “The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews,” “Terrorist Factory: ISIS, the Yazidi Genocide, and Exporting Terror,” and “In Broad Daylight:  The Secret Procedures behind The Holocaust by Bullets.”