Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum

Join us for the next installment of our Summer Survivor Speaker Series, where Mark Jacobs, the son of Holocaust survivor and Museum founding member Mike Jacobs, z”l, will share his father’s remarkable story of survival.

Mike was born in Poland in 1925. In 1939, he and his family were confined to the Ostrowiec Ghetto. His parents, two brothers, and two sisters were murdered at Treblinka Death Camp. Mike survived several camps, including Auschwitz, and was liberated from Mauthausen-Gusen II by the U.S. Army in 1945.

These sessions are free to attend. Register here: https://dhhrm.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/ #/events/a0SRo000007HrS5MAK?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=ssss26_mark

Meet Irving Berlin, the Jewish immigrant who composed “God Bless America.”

In 1893, at the age of five, Berlin and his family fled the violent persecution of Jews in Russia and found a new home in America.

After his father’s death, young Berlin helped support his family as a street performer, honing the musical talent that would define his life. Born Israel Baline, he changed his name to Irving Berlin to navigate the rampant antisemitism in New York’s entertainment industry. Despite never learning to read or write music, he went on to compose over 1,000 songs, 19 musicals, and 18 movie scores.

Berlin wrote “God Bless America” in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army during World War I. Its patriotic message made it an anthem of hope and unity, especially during World War II.

Pictured: Irving Berlin, seated at a piano courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA