Courtroom 600's Laurie Pasler to Headline Newberry Program Marking 80th Anniversary of Nuremberg Verdicts

Free Oct. 1 program at The Newberry pairs Pasler with Northwestern University historian Daniel Greene for a conversation about the trials, drawing on primary sources from her father's U.S. Army service at Nuremberg

CHICAGO, Sept. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Laurie Pasler, founder of Descendants Media Group and Project Director of Courtroom 600, will co-present "Nuremberg at 80: A Chicago Family's Connection to the Trial" at The Newberry on Thursday, Oct. 1, with historian Daniel Greene. The program marks 80 years since the International Military Tribunal read its verdicts on Oct. 1, 1946. It is free and open to the public, with advance registration required at newberry.org/calendar/nuremberg.

In conversation with Greene, Adjunct Professor of History at Northwestern University, Pasler will share the photographs, diaries and documents her father preserved while working in prison administration at Nuremberg. Courtroom 600 now uses these primary sources and the trial record to help students understand the lessons and the atrocities the tribunal uncovered. Artifacts from Pasler's collection will be on display before the program.

Nuremberg at 80: A Chicago Family's Connection to the Trial

Thursday, Oct. 1, 6–7 p.m. | Ruggles Hall, The Newberry, 60 W. Walton St., Chicago

Register for the free Oct. 1 program: newberry.org/calendar/nuremberg

"My father worked at Nuremberg and never told us," said Pasler. "Eleven years ago, after losing him, I inherited his U.S. Army documents, photographs, and memorabilia. That discovery led me to found Descendants Media Group and create Courtroom 600—to teach World War II through the lens of accountability. On this historic anniversary, I reflect on the trials' legacy and echoes from the past that continue to ring true today."

From a family archive to classrooms nationwide

Pasler transformed her father's collection into a virtual museum of more than 300 curated Nuremberg primary sources, most never before seen online. Told through images and captions, the story of the trial has reached audiences in more than 55 countries. With educator partners, she then created Courtroom 600, a curriculum for grades 7–12 social studies organized around the four counts of the Nuremberg indictment. Rather than teaching WWII and the Holocaust as separate histories, Courtroom 600 uses the trial record to show students how Nazi racial ideology, rooted in antisemitism, drove the war in Europe and led to genocide. Its focus on perpetrators, evidence and accountability reflects Nuremberg's lasting legacy: the principle that individuals, including the highest officials of a state, can be held responsible for crimes against humanity. Students examine the evidence and reach conclusions for themselves.

"The Nuremberg record is irrefutable. When students hold the same evidence the prosecutors presented, the atrocities stop being abstract, and they understand what happens when hateful ideology is put into action," said Don Fulmer, Social Studies Department Chair at Lake Park High School. Fulmer is implementing Courtroom 600 across all grade levels this school year.

At a recent workshop for The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, 65 educators from 31 states rated the curriculum 4.7 out of 5 for likelihood of classroom implementation, consistent with earlier programs in New York, Nebraska and Illinois. Among surveyed students, 97% recognized that Jews were central to Hitler's war plans.

Expanding the mission

With a recently awarded $25,000 grant from a Chicago Jewish family foundation, Courtroom 600 will launch a National Educator Fellowship in January 2027. Six secondary social studies teachers from across the country will pilot the curriculum in classrooms and each train three colleagues, reaching 24 educators in the first year.

Descendants Media Group is also developing Response Ready, a pilot lesson designed for Jewish students in grades 7–8 to help them build resilience to antisemitism by tracing accusations from the Middle Ages to the memes and coded language online today. The lesson pilots this fall in five Chicago-area Jewish day schools and congregations, supported by the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

What's next

• Oct. 11: WGN-TV's Backstory with Larry Potash profiles Courtroom 600 in a feature filmed at Lake Park High School. Watch this season's trailer here. (check local listings for dates and times).
• December: Courtroom 600 presents a workshop at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference in Chicago.

"Nuremberg at 80: A Chicago Family's Connection to the Trial" is free and open to the public. Advance registration is required: newberry.org/calendar/nuremberg.

About Courtroom 600 and Descendants Media Group

Descendants Media Group NFP is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) founded to teach and inspire future generations through experiential storytelling. Its flagship project, Courtroom 600, uses Nuremberg trials primary sources to teach WWII through the lens of accountability and justice. The Module 1 student podcast received a 2025 Communicator Award of Excellence. Learn more at www.courtroom600.org.

Media Contact

Dana Harville, President and CEO, Chorus Strategic Advisors, LLC
773-448-4308

[email protected]

Laurie Pasler and Don Fulmer are available for interviews upon request.

SOURCE Descendants Media Group | Courtroom 600