Chancellor Julio Frenk delivers message of compassion and empathy on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk shared the video below, in which he discusses his family history. In the 1930s, Frenk's grandparents, along with his then-6-year-old father and 4-year-old aunt, fled rising antisemitism in Nazi Germany and found safe haven in Mexico. They didn't speak the language and were unfamiliar with the culture. Still, they were given the opportunity to settle and build a new life.

Frenk has characterized Mexico's graciousness and kindness to strangers as "the defining event in my life," an act of generosity that secured his and his family's future. Hispersonal story, he says, is a reminder of why kindness and compassion matter and how the power of human connection can combat hatred.