by Mike Favila, Editor

When I went to Baltimore Comic-Con last year, I was browsing through the aisles with my little brother when I ran into a very unique booth.  It belonged to Dr. Rafael Medoff, a Holocaust historian and author.  He had all these interesting sketches from Gil Kane, Jerry Robinson, and other classic creators.  After purchasing a few pieces, I found out that he’s the founding director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and co-chairman of the new “Comics Creators for Holocaust Education”.

ComicsOnline: Can you tell us a little bit about your organization’s mission and history?

Rafael Medoff: The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies was established in 2003 and is based in Washington, D.C. Prof. Wyman, who is now retired, is the author of the definitive study of America’s response to the Holocaust, a book called ‘The Abandonment of the Jews.’ The purpose of the Wyman Institute is to study and teach about America’s response to the Nazi genocide, with an emphasis on learning the lessons of that period so the mistakes and tragedies of those years won’t be repeated. We have a particular interest in publicizing the stories of those Americans who spoke out against the Holocaust and tried to promote the rescue of Jewish refugees.

Our interest in comics and cartoons comes from our desire to find the most compelling ways to teach young people today about the need to speak up against genocide. Comic books, animation, and graphic novels are a very effective way to reach students. Art Spiegelman’s ‘Maus’ and Joe Kubert’s ‘Yossel’ have proven that.

CO: How did you get Stan Lee and Neal Adams to sign on?

RM: Both Stan and Neal have always had a strong interest in using comics not only to entertain but also to educate. Recall Stan’s Spider-Man comics concerning drugs, or Neal’s work on the Green Lantern-Green Arrow stories about drugs, racism, and other contemporary problems. When Disney’s Educational Productions division asked me to author a series of motion comics about Americans who spoke out during the Holocaust, Neal was the obvious choice as illustrator, and Stan narrated two of the episodes. The DVD of our first six motion comics, called “They Spoke Out: American Voices Against the Holocaust,” has just been released by Disney.

Neal and Stan also played leading roles in a public campaign that we initiated in support of Mrs. Dina Babbitt, a former cartoon animator who was trying to regain portraits she had been forced to paint while she was a prisoner in Auschwitz.

CO: What projects do you have coming up?

RM: J. David Spurlock (the noted publisher and founder of Vanguard Productions) and I recently established Comics Creators for Holocaust Education, a special division of the Wyman Institute that brings together comic book writers and artists to work on educational projects. We’ve collaborated with Art Spiegelman on a full-page comic strip for the Washington Post about refugees; with Sal Amendola for a cartoon in The New Republic about athletes who boycotted the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany; and with Joe Rubinstein on a full-page cartoon for the Los Angeles Times about the Holocaust and Darfur.

Coming in the spring is a book that I’ve coauthored with Craig Yoe, the comics historian and publisher. It’s called Cartoonists Against the Holocaust and features over 100 political cartoons from U.S. newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s about the persecution of the Jews in Europe. It’s a way for students to look at the Holocaust, as it was happening, through the eyes of cartoonists.

CO: What’s the best way for people to get in touch if they want to donate art or funds?

RM: One way we support our educational projects is by selling items that are donated to us–original art, comic books, science fiction books, and comics-related memorabilia. The Wyman Institute is a charitable institution and all donations are tax-deductible. Anyone interested in helping our work can contact us through our web site: www.WymanInstitute.org.

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