26 | MAY 11 • 2023 

W

hen I asked Fr. 
Patrick Desbois 
what he hopes peo-
ple get out of his appearance at 
Jewish Family Service’s Spotlight 
Event on May 24, his answer 
surprised me. “I 
hope they will not 
sleep well after,
” 
he said. “Because 
when we see peo-
ple sleep well, they 
forget what is hap-
pening.
” 
 A Roman Catholic priest, 
distinguished author, university 
professor, historian, forensic 
detective and world-renowned 
human-rights activist, Desbois 
has dedicated his life to edu-
cating the world about the 
Holocaust and antisemitism. 
He is the founder of Yahad-In 
Unum (“Together In One” in 
Hebrew and Latin), a nonprofit 

organization dedicated to dis-
covering genocidal practices 
wherever they are found around 
the world, providing docu-
mented proof of crimes against 
humanity, and a leading voice of 
protest on behalf of all past and 
present victims of mass murder. 
His dedication to this work has 
been featured on 60 Minutes. 
Yahad-In Unum’s original 
charter was documenting the 
evidence of the Holocaust in 
Eastern Europe, known as the 
“Holocaust by Bullets.
” 
For nearly two decades, 
Yahad-In Unum pioneered the 
application of modern forensic 
research to the study of geno-
cide. Through this developed 
methodology, they have uncov-
ered the location of more than 
2,900 killing sites and docu-
mented more than 7,000 witness 
testimonies to the war crimes of 

the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi Death 
Squads). 
Desbois’ ongoing work brings 
closure to the victims and sur-
vivors of genocide and calls for 
legal justice for the perpetrators. 
His book, Holocaust by Bullets: 
A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the 
Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 
Million Jews, is based on this 
work. Desbois will be signing 
books (available for purchase) at 
the dessert reception following 
his talk, where he’ll share his 
riveting story in what will surely 
be an emotional, educational 
evening.
The May 24 event takes 
place at Temple Israel in West 
Bloomfield. The program 
begins at 7 p.m. Admission is 
$75. Event chairs are Helen and 
Martin Katz.
Given that JFS provides 
services to more than 600 

Holocaust survivors, Desbois is 
a fitting choice for its Spotlight 
event. 
Risa Berris, director of 
Holocaust survivor services for 
JFS, says it’s beneficial anytime 
somebody goes out and edu-
cates people on these topics like 
Desbois will on May 24. 
“He’s well known; he’s been 
doing this a long time; he has a 
perspective,
” Berris said. “I think 
he contributes to that ‘Never 
Again’ concept where people 
need to be educated in order to 
not have this happen again.
”
Berris says local survivors 
have been invited free of charge, 
though she’s not sure how many 
will be there.
Desbois has been to Detroit 
40-50 times and says it’s the 
city and Jewish community he 
knows best in all of America. 
He’s excited to return once 
again but is focused on the topic 
at hand and how important 
it is to teach new generations 
what happened — not only to 
remember the past, but to antic-
ipate the future. 
“We must think largely to 
teach the Holocaust, not only 
to people who are near to us 
but people who are far, because 
antisemitism is not (just) a 
Jewish issue, it’s an issue for the 
non-Jews,
” Desbois said. 
Desbois says he believes we 
must train new leaders to know 
exactly what happened and to 
name where antisemitism is 
coming from today. Otherwise, 
he says, we are dreaming. 
“I think we have to teach the 
Holocaust to heal as a society 
because these ideologies of 
intolerance and hate are unfor-
tunately coming back all over 
the world.
” 

For registration and sponsorship 

information, visit jfsspotlightevent.org 

or call (248) 592-2339. Dollars raised 

enable JFS to address the greatest 

needs of the community and continue 

serving the most vulnerable. 

SPOTLIGHT

Fr. Patrick Desbois is the guest speaker for this 
year’s JFS Spotlight Event on May 24.

Spotlight:
Never
 Again

Fr. Patrick 
Desbois

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Fr. Desbois works 
to locate places 
where genocide 
has occurred.

