Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk

We just received the good news that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will honor Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk “for her work in bringing the Museum’s leadership training programs for members of the judiciary to Arizona.” As the Museum indicates:

“Through her initiative, more than 2,000 Arizona judges, prosecutors and members of the state judiciary have participated in the Museum’s “Law, Justice, and the Holocaust” program, which examines how the judiciary in Nazi Germany helped facilitate persecution and mass murder as well as the implications this history bears for the judicial system today.”

The event will occur on Sunday, February 27, at the Arizona Biltmore at 6:30 p.m. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, a member of the Museum’s governing council, is the event’s keynote speaker.

On the Museum’s website, Polk wrote about the program that so moved her:

“I have taken ethics courses for 26 years now as a prosecutor and have never been touched or impacted in the way that the lessons of the Holocaust impacted me. The program begins with the Nazi rise to power and chronicles the role of law enforcement and prosecutors and now judges in allowing the Holocaust to happen. By the time I had finished the course I went from believing that the Holocaust had nothing to do with me and my role as Yavapai county attorney, to knowing that the Holocaust has everything to do with my role as county attorney, with my role as a prosecutor. And with me as a person. By the time I flew out of Washington D.C. the next day and made it back to Prescott, Arizona, I was already thinking that I want all the prosecutors in Arizona to have the advantage of this course.”

Congratulations to County Attorney Polk, and to everyone else who helped to bring the program to our state.

The complete release is below.

UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE LEADERSHIP OF YAVAPAI COUNTY ATTORNEY SHEILA POLK

Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to Deliver Keynote Address at Phoenix Dinner 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is honoring Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk for her work in bringing the Museum’s leadership training programs for members of the judiciary to Arizona. Through her initiative, more than 2,000 Arizona judges, prosecutors and members of the state judiciary have participated in the Museum’s “Law, Justice, and the Holocaust” program, which examines how the judiciary in Nazi Germany helped facilitate persecution and mass murder as well as the implications this history bears for the judicial system today. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, a member of the Museum’s governing council, is the event’s keynote speaker.

“The Holocaust was the result of a failure of leadership at both the institutional and individual level,” says Museum Director Sara J. Bloomfield. “The widespread acquiescence and support of civic institutions and citizens in Germany contributed substantially to making the Holocaust possible. For example, members of the judiciary—many of whom had served in the same roles under the democratic Weimar Republic—facilitated theft of property, persecution, deportation, and murder. By exploring how this occurred in an advanced society, we encourage members of the judiciary in the United States to reflect more deeply on their role in safeguarding our democracy today.”

Event co-chairs are Amy and Andrew Cohn and Suzanne and Steve Hilton, both of Scottsdale.  Honorary chairs are Susan and Bill Levine of Paradise Valley.  Mr. Levine is also a member of the Museum’s governing council. The event is being held on Sunday, February 27, at the Arizona Biltmore at 6:30 p.m.

In December 2008, then U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, on behalf of the Justice Department, donated to the Museum copies of trial transcripts and decisions created in connection with the Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (formerly the Office of Special Investigations, OSI).

The records—more than 50,000 pages of transcripts of 40 World War II-related denaturalization and removal cases as well as transcripts of contested extradition hearings—were created over the past three decades in connection with OSI’s litigation against U.S. citizens or residents alleged to have participated in acts of persecution in collaboration with the Nazis or their allies. The Museum has assisted OSI in these cases by providing access to key documentation from the Museum’s vast collection of archives and by providing its historians as expert witnesses at OSI trials.

Individual tickets to the dinner are $360, and sponsorship opportunities are available. Those interested in attending or sponsoring this event should contact the Museum’s Southwest Regional Office at 972-490-6300 or southwest@ushmm.org.

Media interested in attending the event or speaking with any of the organizers or attendees should contact Andy Hollinger at 202-488-6133 or ahollinger@ushmm.org.

A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanent place on the National Mall, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit www.ushmm.org.

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