Belmont University to Host National Holocaust Exhibit: “Some Were Neighbors”
The Reverend Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership in cooperation with The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum presents Some Were Neighbors: Choice, Human Behavior, and The Holocaust, Sept. 8 – Dec 8, 2025
Nashville university first in nation to host traveling exhibition
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 8, 2025) — Belmont University will serve as the first university in the nation to host Some Were Neighbors: Choice, Human Behavior, and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibit developed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The exhibition will be on display from September 10 through December 8 in Belmont’s Lila D. Bunch Library and is free and open to the public during regular library hours.
A powerful educational experience rooted in storytelling, photography and historical reflection, Some Were Neighbors examines the role of ordinary people in the Holocaust — those who chose to help, those who stood by and those who became perpetrators. The exhibit prompts viewers to ask critical questions about human behavior, moral responsibility and the impact of everyday choices in the face of injustice.
“Hosting this exhibit is a milestone for our University, as well as a meaningful expression of our Christian identity and our commitment to interfaith dialogue,” said Dr. Jon Roebuck, executive director of the Reverend Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership. “Through this partnership with the Holocaust Museum, we’re opening space for hard, honest conversations about moral courage, complicity and how we treat our neighbors. Our hope is that everyone who walks through the exhibit leaves with both a deeper understanding of history and a renewed sense of responsibility in the present.”
Nanny Frantiska Prva (center) cared for Renate (left) and Sylvia Schonberg after their parents obtained false papers to protect them from deportation from Hungary. Neither parent survived. The girls survived the war passing as non-Jews. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Renate Schonberg Winston
Teachers take students to watch SS men burn synagogue furnishings. Mosbach, Germany, November 10, 1938. -Mosbach Stadtrachiv; Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
Police officer Erich Troch of Felsberg, Germany, protected a Jewish family during the November 1938 pogrom. While on patrol, Troch protected Siegmund Weinstein and his family from a threatening mob of local civilians. The angry crowd ridiculed the officer; one man yelled “Get with the times!" -Stadtarchiv Felsberg/Klaus Troch
The exhibition is presented in partnership with Belmont’s Office of Jewish Dialogue and Discovery and made possible by generous support from the Maria & Bernie A. Pargh Foundation. In addition to the exhibit, related events throughout the fall will include interfaith congregational visits, guest lectures, class integration across multiple disciplines and community education opportunities.
More information about the exhibit and full schedule of events can be found online.
About Belmont University
Located near the heart of thriving Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University consists of nearly 9,000 students who come from every state and 33 countries. The University is nationally recognized for its innovative approach as well as its commitment to undergraduate teaching (U.S. News & World Report). As a Christ-centered, student-focused community, Belmont’s mission is to develop diverse leaders of purpose, character and wisdom who possess a transformational mindset and are eager and equipped to make the world a better place. With more than 119 areas of undergraduate study, 60 master’s programs and nine doctoral degrees, Belmont University aims to be the leading Christ-centered university in the world, producing leaders who will radically champion the pursuit of life abundant for all people. For more information, visit http://www.belmont.edu.
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