Luke Berryman, at The Blogs

Luke Berryman

Founder of The Ninth Candle

Jan 27, 2026, 5:57 AM

In these dark days, remembrance is not enough

Law enforcement detain a man outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a protest on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

When US democracy was strong, International Holocaust Remembrance Day was just a reminder of past atrocities. Times have changed

Nov 8, 2022, 9:08 PM

Dressing up as a Nazi mirrors the past in more ways than one

Nazi uniforms at the Lofoten War Memorial Museum, Norway (source: Wikimedia Commons)

This Halloween, a goose-stepping student dressed up as a Nazi at Jones College Prep, a high school in Chicago - The Ninth Candle's home town. It wasn't an isolated incident. In New York City, a man went into a bar...

Apr 25, 2022, 11:59 PM

The Quietness of Yom HaShoah

Yom HaShoah is commemorated in different ways around the world. People visit Poland to walk silently from Auschwitz to Birkenau in “The March of the Living.” Daily life in Israel comes to a standstill for two minutes while sirens...

Mar 24, 2022, 4:29 PM

Here’s why Russia and Ukraine are both talking about the Nazis

Russia and Ukraine are both using the Nazi past to make sense of the present conflict. Vladimir Putin says that he's "de-Nazifying" Ukraine, while Volodymyr Zelensky has asked the Knesset to stop Russia's "final solution" to the "Ukrainian Question." Putin's...

Oct 19, 2021, 2:22 PM

Featured Post

Is it antisemitic to wear the yellow star?

Illustrative: A reference to the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust, used to protest an application for monitoring coronavirus carriers. (Arnoud van Doorn/Twitter via JTA)

In fixating on the Holocaust symbol, opponents of Coronavirus mitigation present Jews as figures of disgust for enabling their own destruction

Jul 30, 2021, 7:23 PM

What the US State Department swastika says about Holocaust education

One of the worst things about a swastika being carved into the wall of an elevator in the U.S. State Department this week is that it isn't surprising. Already in 2021, elementary, middle, and high schools, universities, parks, playgrounds,...

About Me

Dr. Luke Berryman is the Founder of The Ninth Candle, a nonprofit that works with schools across the United States to improve Holocaust education. He is also the author of the book "Resisting Nazism" (Bloomsbury, 2026). Elsewhere, his writing has featured in USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, and several other newspapers.

Contact Me