Holocaust Education Resources Council Newsletter December 2016 Dear HERC Friends, Board of Directors John Rosner Our best wishes to all for a healthy, peaceful and As you are making your end of year donations, PRESIDENT prosperous 2017. As I look back to the please consider giving to Holocaust Education beginning, so much progress has been made to Resource Council. Donate to keep Holocaust Rita Blank memory alive and educate new generations. Your VICE PRESIDENT reach more schools. Our mission of education has never been more important than now. I want contribution will make an immediate and direct Tasha Weinstein to thank the HERC board members and impact. SECRETARY committees that work tirelessly during the whole year to plan all the important programs. Please According to the news, anti-Semitism is on the rise David Kirk in alarming ways. The US Holocaust Memorial TREASURER attend the events next year and learn more about Museum recently released a statement as a call to making a difference. Don’t forget to send you action. In our community, a KKK message was left Monte Finkelstein renewal membership in January. You can pay by on a community building near a high school. Help HERC EDUCATION PayPal or a check. DIRECTOR stop the hate. http://www.holocaustresources.org/join-herc/ “One Person of Integrity Can Make a Difference”, This past year started with the Anne Frank At-Large Members Elie Wiesel. exhibit at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts. The Linda Davey opening night reception reached one of the Eileen Lerner Robyn Rachin highest attendance recorded. The book club and Shari Gewanter film series continued to show great interest. Barbara Goldstein Michelle Gayle Annual teacher workshops are the main focus for Executive Director Mary Ann Deitchman educators, which 75 attended. Ending the year Avi Wygodski with the Remembrance Dinner Gala when 275 Daniela Wellner attended to honor Susan Turner with the Humanitarian Award and Pam Marsh presented about stolen Nazi art recovered. Inside this Edition... Message from the President ............................ 2 HERC Book Club ................................................ 7 Remembrance Dinner ....................................... 2-3 Poland Trip Brochure ......................................... 8-9 Calendar of Upcoming Events ......................... 4 I Saw It In the Movies! ....................................... 10-11 USHMM Press Release ....................................... 5 Searching for Identity ........................................ 12 Requiem of Defiance .......................................... 6 Membership ......................................................... 13-15 H E RC Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee Message from John Rosner, HERC President I would like to wish you all sweet and pleasant upcoming holida ys. As the year’s end approaches, I am cognizant of ongoing challenges for the next year. HERC will be expanding programs within schools to search for di verse ways to educate students. HERC will continue to provide meaningful and thought‐provoking educationa l events to our teachers regarding the holocaust. Teachers will then convey this critical information to our students to ensure that the horrific events of the 1930’s and 1940’s are never again repeated. Likewise, HERC will partner with local organizations to sponsor events such as the Requiem of Defiance. HERC will be searching for ways to expand our membership and su pport. It is thanks to folks like yourselves that we can go in providing the necessary educational information to our students. Sincerely, John Rosner HERC President 2016 Holocaust Memorial Dinner HERC Presents Honors at Annual Remembrance Dinner As the Holocaust Education Resource Council moves into new partnerships and expanded programs, honors were given to two special individuals at the Annual Remembrance Dinner last month. These two hardworking community members are helping to make a difference in their own way. The record crowd of 275 people attended to recognize Susan Turner as the First Humanitarian recipient and Pam Marsh as the Guest Speaker presenting reclaiming Nazi Stolen Art. The event held at the Turnbull Center was filled with many guests that dined on food beyond average for this kind of event. The room had a display of two Teacher Trunks that demonstrated the key education resources provided by HERC to the schools throughout the year. The mission is so important, that funds were raised that night to purchase more trunks that schools can share. They both continue their long-standing commitment to stand for justice in any way possible. Susan Turner said, “I am honored, humbled and thrilled at this wonderful award from our HERC organization, which perseveres in education against hatred, injustice and cruelty.” H E Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 2 RC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee 2016 Holocaust Memorial Dinner Left: Susan Turner honored. Steve and Susan Turner, Barbara Goldstein, Rita Blank Right: Guest Speaker Pam Marsh presenting art stolen by the Nazis Left: Memorial Candle Lighting H E RC Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 3 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee HOLOCAUST EDUCATION RESOURCE COUNCIL ANNUAL MEETING JANUARY 11, 2017, Tuesday TIME: 6:30PM LOCATION: TEMPLE ISRAEL, 2215 Mahan Drive ALL MEMBERS INVITED BOARD of DIRECTORS ELECTIONS 2017 BUDGET PROPOSED PROGRAMS ANNOUNCED H E RC Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 4 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee Official Release from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum November 21, 2016 Museum Condemns Hateful Rhetoric at White Nationalist Conference; Calls on the Nation to Confront Hate Speech WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is deeply alarmed at the hateful rhetoric at a conference of white nationalists held on November 19 at the Ronald Reagan Building just blocks from the Museum. According to press reports, Richard Spencer, the leader of the National Policy Institute – a white nationalist think tank – that sponsored the conference, made several direct and indirect references to Jews and other minorities, often alluding to Nazism. He spoke in German to quote Nazi propaganda and refer to the mainstream media. He implied that the media was protecting Jewish interests and said, “One wonders if these people are people at all?” He said that America belongs to white people. His statement that white people face a choice of “conquer or die” closely echoes Adolf Hitler’s view of Jews and that history is a racial struggle for survival. The targeting of Jews was central to Nazi racist ideology. The Germans attempted to kill every Jewish man, woman and child they could find. Nazi racism extended to other groups. By the end of World War II, the Germans and their collaborators had murdered six million Jews and millions of other innocent civilians, many of whom were targeted for racial reasons. The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words. The Museum calls on all American citizens, our religious and civic leaders, and the leadership of all branches of the government to confront racist thinking and divisive hateful speech. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial to the Holocaust, inspires citizens and leaders to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by donors nationwide. Learn more at ushmm.org. H E RC Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 5 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee H E RC Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 6 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee 2016/2017 HERC Book Club Holocaust Education Resource Council 2016/2017 Book Club Date Book & Author Time Venue No discussion group XXX XXX XXX in December 1/19/2017 Legacy of Courage: A 7:00 PM‐ Leon County Public Library Holocaust Survival Story in 8:30 PM 200 W Park Ave Greece Program Room B by Frederic Kapis (850) 606‐2665 2/16/2017 Shanghai Refuge: A Memoir 7:00 PM‐ Leon County Public Library of the WW II Jewish Ghetto 8:30 PM 200 W Park Ave by Ernest G. Heppner Program Room B (850) 606‐2665 3/16/2017 The Seventh Million: Israelis 7:00 PM‐ Leon County Public Library and the Holocaust 8:30 PM 200 W Park Ave by Tom S. Segev Program Room B (850) 606‐2665 H E RC Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 7 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee H E Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 8 RC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee H E Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O.Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org 9 RC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee I SAW IT IN THE MOVIES! The HERC movie series, I SAW IT IN THE MOVIES, will continue in 2017. For the past two years, we have been exploring the movies produced by American movie houses in the U.S. (Warner Brothers, United Artists, Columbia, etc.) in the years just prior to and during WWII. We have seen that American audiences of the “social media” of the day – the movies – knew about the discriminatory policies of the Nazis, the denial of free speech and religion, and the existence of brutal concentration camps inside Germany. We have become aware of Nazi spy activities in America, the labeling of “degenerate” art, and the take‐over of the minds of the youth of Germany ‐ boys being trained to be soldiers for their “savior”, Hitler, and girls to be breeders of soldiers. We saw Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 parody of “The Great Dictator” and heard his impassioned plea for the brotherhood of man. In 2017, we will continue to explore what has become quite obvious – that what Americans knew about the policy and actions of the Nazis was quite extensive.