“Grappling in the Gray: Peacekeeping and Genocide in Rwanda”
In conjunction with the opening of the Dallaire Archive in September 2024, Jefferson Library premiered the exhibit “Grappling in the Gray: Peacekeeping and Genocide in Rwanda.” The exhibit featured documents from the archive, audio clips from Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire’s interviews and speeches, and United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) artifacts on loan from the Canadian War Museum. Also included in the exhibition were cables from 1994 in which Dallaire, as Force Commander of UNAMIR, requested assistance from UN Headquarters as violence erupted throughout Rwanda; hate propaganda; the bullet-proof vest Dallaire wore on missions; and a machete—the predominant weapons of Hutu militias. The exhibit’s title explicitly references both the Long Gray Line and the difficulty of leading in highly ambiguous situations, where every decision involves significant moral and material trade-offs.
“Grappling in the Gray” also featured a video documentary created by Cadet Kari Malatak ’25 entitled “A Journey of Understanding.”
The David Labkovski Project
From 10 April to 30 May 2018, the Jefferson Library hosted the David Labkovski Project, an exhibit designed to advance “knowledge of the Holocaust through the art of David Labkovski.” The project emphasized survival, tolerance, justice, and the importance of bearing witness to history. During the first four days of the exhibit, West Point hosted the Project’s Executive Director, Leora Raikin, and the Education Director, Stephanie Wolfson, who offered docent-led tours open to West Point cadets, staff, faculty, and the public. Additionally, several instructors in the German language program worked with Dr. Frey, Ms. Raikin, and Ms. Wolfson to develop a project in which intermediate-level German language students wrote poetry in German in response to artwork from the exhibit.
“American Witnesses”
The “American Witnesses” exhibit honored the liberators of Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. As Allied forces advanced through German-occupied Europe in 1945, they liberated hundreds of Nazi concentration camps while closing in on Berlin. These battle-hardened soldiers were astonished and outraged by what they discovered. The interactive exhibit combined photographs with audio testimony from Allied service members, allowing viewers to see visual evidence and hear the words of the men and women of the US Army who bore witness to Nazi atrocities. “American Witnesses” was on display at Jefferson Library in fall 2020.
“Forbidden Art”
In commemoration of the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Jefferson Library at West Point displayed the exhibit “Forbidden Art” (10 February—10 March 2017), featuring twenty powerful pieces of art created by inmates of concentration and death camps. Dr. Piotr Cywiński, the Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, offered lectures to the cadets and the public.
“Fighting the Fires of Hate: America’s Response to Nazi Book Burning”
USMA’s first public exhibit, presented in collaboration with the Jefferson Library and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, focused on Nazi book burning, censorship, and the American response. The exhibit was on display from April to June 2014.