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FOUNDATION MISSION
The Arnold-Liebster
Foundation seeks to
promote peace, tolerance, human rights, and religious freedom by peaceful and
non political means...
ACTIVITIES
The foundation has
sponsored or shared in numerous international events...
ARNOLD-LIEBSTER FOUNDATION
News and Events
Press Release: July 17, 2018
Museum Remains Deeply Concerned Over The Russian Government’s Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses
April 7, 2017
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Expresses Deep Concern Over Treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Faith Under Fire
October 30 - November 27, 2019
Elgin Community College
1700 Spartan Drive
Elgin, IL 60123
847-697-1000
Elgin Community College Announcement
The opening program was held on October 30 at Seigle Auditorium from 12:00-1:00 PM. A presentation by Greg and Sandra Milakovich, US representatives for the Arnold-Liebster Foundation included a Skype interview of survivor Simone Arnold Liebster of France.
Article from Chicago Tribune/Elgin Courier-News.
Article from The Observer,
the student news site of Elgin Community College.
The 12 panels created by the Arnold-Liebster Foundation chronicle the relatively unknown story of the the Nazi persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Witnesses’ nonviolent resistance to Nazi terror inside and outside the camps.
Facing unrelenting Nazi propaganda and pressure, this small group, male and female Witnesses, had to make a firm stand for their beliefs, often facing severe reprisals and death. Their story is one of immeasurable faith and courage, especially since they always had before them the opportunity to seek relief by signing a declaration to renounce their faith and give their allegiance to Hitler. They showed that it was possible to stand up against Nazi terror, even though they were a minority. Their story can inspire visitors to stand up against hatred and violence no matter what others do, or fail to do.
For more information about the exhibition
A Chronicle of Hope—Revisiting the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda
At the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, Georgia, on April 4, 2019, the program “A Chronicle of Hope—Revisiting the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda” marked the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda.
On April 7, 1994, the tiny African country of Rwanda exploded in genocide. Some 800,000 died during 100 days of murderous violence directed against the entire Tutsi ethnic group, as well as politically moderate Hutu, and Hutu who refused to kill or who tried to rescue Tutsi. About 70 percent of the Tutsi in Rwanda were killed, many by their neighbors or workmates.
Lorenz Reibling, adjunct professor at Boston College, spoke on the utter collapse of social institutions (academia, the media, and the churches) during the Nazi genocide of the Jews and the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Four genocide survivors, Charles and Angelique Rutaganira and Tharcisse and Chantal Seminega, told how they evaded death at the hands of killers because they were rescued by Hutu Jehovah’s Witnesses who risked their lives to save them. The survivors related how the Rwandan Witness community held to their nonviolent and apolitical Christian ethic, refusing to participate in the genocide and taking extreme risks to shelter Tutsi.
The Arnold-Liebster Foundation and the Laura and Lorenz Reibling Family Foundation sponsored the event.
Dr. Tharcisse Seminega's new memoir No Greater Love: How My Family Survived the Genocide in Rwanda was published June 1st.
For further details:
To order the book:
March 11, 2019 - Basalt Middle School
On March 11, Simone Liebster shared her story with the 8th grade students and their teachers during an interactive Skype conference at Basalt Middle School in Colorado.
Read comments about the conference from Principal Jennifer Ellsperman in the Basalt Middle School Weekly Newsletter of March 17.
The Schoolgirl, The Nazis And The Purple Triangles
Award-winning 30-minute documentary film by Jonathan Lewis looks at the Nazi persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses through the eyes of a young schoolgirl. Based on the book "Facing the Lion: Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe" by Simone Arnold Liebster.
Watch a 3 minute clip from the film.
Watch the full film available for classroom use.
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“What enabled us to offer moral resistance and stay firm in the face of a tyrannical state?
“Our strong convictions helped us reject omnipresent propaganda, respond to hateful persecution with love and forgiveness, and conquer despair thanks to our firm hope.
“May these reflections, testimonies, and narratives help our visitors understand that intolerance leads to exclusion, persecution, and ultimately annihilation.
“May these historical accounts likewise inspire strength and courage in those suffering oppression of all kinds.”
Legal Notice - © Arnold-Liebster Foundation 2016