Photo Credit: U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM / The Undefeated

Ray Allen Turns to History; Officially Sworn Into Role With U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum

Ray Allen, arguably the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history, is now a historian?

It’s true, the two-time champion has accepted a position with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. where he will raise awareness about the horrific time period of the Holocaust. Last week, Allen was officially sworn in.

Photo Credit: U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM / The Undefeated

President Barack Obama added for new members to the governing board of the program in the final days weeks of his his second term, and Allen was one of them. Allen has cared about the topic since he learned about it in college and is a Holocaust buff who constantly watches films and reads books about the subject.

In an interview with The Undefeated, Allen spoke about how important the Holocaust is to him and his be learned about the events that occurred during World War II.

When Allen learned about the Holocaust in college, “everything was like a shock to my system to understand this could take place and people didn’t really do anything about it,” he told The Undefeated. “It did something to my soul to be more cognizant of people around me. Care more about the next person.”

Allen’s first visit came in 1998 and the then twenty-three-year-old was “blown away,” he remembered. “I thought, This is a place that everybody should go to…. So, I took, from that day forward — every year, whatever team I played on — I would bring them to this museum.”

Later this month, Allen will visit the Auschwitz concentration camp. When it comes to Holocaust education, Allen explained, “I want people to look at something that I post, or something that I say, and then for themselves say, ‘You know what, I should go see that for myself.”