Rule of Law Award Photos

May 25, 2016–

Rule of Law Award Ceremony

On May 23rd the VHM and the Virginia Law Foundation honored Dr. Charles Sydnor with the Rule of Law award for his years of service in bringing Nazi War Criminals to justice.

For 25 years, from 1981 - 2006, Dr. Sydnor served as an Expert Witness for the Office of Special Investigations in the United States Department of Justice, testifying to revoke the citizenship and deport former SS concentration camp guards and other Nazi War Criminals who had gained entry to the United States fraudulently and illegally after the Second World War.

One of the central lessons of the Holocaust focuses on the centrality of the Rule of Law in the creation and maintenance of civil societies. To safeguard that belief, the Nuremberg Courtroom Committee of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in tandem with the Virginia Law Foundation established an annual program to honor individuals whose life and work emulate the highest ideals enshrined in the principals that established the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (1945–46) and later the International Court of Justice.

The Rule of Law award
Former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean speaking at an ethics seminar for Virginia Continuing Legal Education
Dr. Sydnor receiving his Rule of Law award
Dr. Sydnor speaking about his contributions to the Office of Special Investigations
Dr. Sydnor and guests at the reception
Dr. Sydnor speaking with Holocaust Survivors Alan and Halina Zimm
Dr. Sydnor, VHM Director of Guest Services Matt Simpson, and Ambassador Bell
VHM board member Norman Sporn speaking with Alan Zimm
VHM docents at the reception
Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn and guests at the reception