In 1937, the Town of Southbury made national headlines for rejecting the German American Bund’s plan to build a Nazi training camp within its borders. This little-known but powerful moment in American history is the focus of Home of the Brave: When Southbury Said NO to the Nazis, a documentary that will be screened at the Meriden Public Library this October.
The event, slated for October 15, 2025, will be hosted with the help of the Southbury Historical Society and Ed Edelson, former First Selectman of Southbury and a key figure behind the documentary project.
The event is part of Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibition presented by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The exhibit explores the motives, fears and responses that shaped Americans’ reactions to Nazism and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.
The two-part program in October will include a roundtable talk with the Southbury Historical Society.
Registration is required and opens on September 15, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.
In addition to the two-part program, the traveling exhibit will be on display at the Meriden Public Library from September 28 to November 9.
The Meriden Public Library is one of 50 libraries hosting the traveling exhibit in its second nationwide tour.
Shayne Catala, the Community Services Librarian at the Meriden Public Library, said he saw the exhibit in Washington, D.C., at the USHMM and knew it would be a good fit for a potential program.
“It’s a pretty prestigious event and we’re excited for it,” said Catala.
With the grant submitted last year, Meriden’s hosting of the event this fall marks the only library in Connecticut that will present the traveling exhibit.
To view the full national tour schedule for Americans and the Holocaust, visit ushmm.org.
The Southbury Record 