In collaboration with the Ohio Supreme Court, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland is hosting "How the Courts Failed Germany" in a program presented by a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum historian.

Dr. William Meinecke will outline the role of pre-World War II German courts in setting the stage for Nazi atrocities at the federation's Mandel Building in Cleveland on Thursday, September 6, 2012.

This is the second time Dr. Meinecke has presented this topic for the Ohio Supreme Court's Forum on the Law program. He spoke about the courts' role in Nazi Germany in November 2010. The lecture marks the eighth in the Forum on the Law program that features regional, national and international authorities who address contemporary or historic legal topics. Additional co-sponsors include the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.

Dr. Meinecke joined the museum's Education Division in 1992, and he has worked extensively with law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors and attorneys in the Law, Justice and Holocaust training program for the past 12 years. His book, Nazi Ideology and the Holocaust was published by the museum in December 2007.