HERC 1058 - Newsletter September 2019 v3#

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HERC September Newsletter 1 Sept 2019 Volume 8 No. 5 You can make a difference today and donate to HERC at http://holocaustresources.org/donate/ Message from the HERC Newsletter Holocaust Education Resource Council P.O.Box16282 Tallahassee, FL 32317 HolocaustResources.org https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahasseez W e should never think that our work is finished. It is up to us now to transform Holocaust education to deliver sustainable impact to engage future generations. Very soon we will have to transition into a world without eyewitnesses. Educational outreach can shape how generations of young people understand history and their role in society. Looking forward, we can ensure that Holocaust education remains a relevant force. With the timeless message of never again, help volunteer in some way to create a legacy. Lots of events to start planning with HERC. Book group will discuss “Violins of Hope” by James Grymes on September 12th at Midtown Reader. e author will lecture on October 10th, before the Remembrance Dinner to be held in the Longmire Recital Hall (second floor) from 4:00 to 5:00. e topic of free lecture, “Although Music Here is Chronic, Many Lives are Disharmonic': Cabaret Songs as Discord to the Harmonizing Narrative of eresienstadt.” Don’t forget to purchase your tickets for the Annual Remembrance Dinner that will feature an honor to Senator Bill Montford as the First Legislator Award and Guest Speaker author James Grymes, who will sign his book, Violins of Hope. e Honorary Chairs, Judy and Steve Winn, will host the evening and recognize Senator Montford with a tribute. e Holocaust Education Resource Council is located on the Tallahassee Community College campus as a proud partner. e support will lead the way to create permanent resources required for schools to ensure impact in the future. We are inspired by a new initiative with Leon County Schools to establish a Holocaust Education Advocate to lead the way as a model program. Donate now to give as a way to share the important goals and support our schools. HERC’s impact will reach more students, teachers, and community members thanks to YOU! Together we are making a difference. Barbara Barbara Goldstein Executive Director Our Work Is Never Finished Inside this Edition . . . Author James Grymes speaks at Remembrance Dinner about music and survival Executive Directors Message . . . . . . . 1 HERC Book Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Rememberance Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Sponsor Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 HERC Book Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Susan Baldino Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Education Workshop 2019 . . . . . . . . . 9 Become an Advocate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Membership Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Transcript of HERC 1058 - Newsletter September 2019 v3#

HERC September Newsletter 1

Sept 2019 Volume 8 • No. 5

You can make a difference today and donate to HERC athttp://holocaustresources.org/donate/

Message from the HERC

Newsletter

Holocaust Education Resource Council • P.O.Box16282 • Tallahassee, FL 32317HolocaustResources.org • https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahasseez

We should neverthink that our

work is finished. It is up tous now to transformHolocaust education todeliver sustainable impactto engage futuregenerations. Very soon wewill have to transition into aworld withouteyewitnesses. Educationaloutreach can shape howgenerations of young peopleunderstand history and theirrole in society. Lookingforward, we can ensure thatHolocaust education remains arelevant force. With the timelessmessage of never again, helpvolunteer in some way to create alegacy.

Lots of events to start planningwith HERC. Book group willdiscuss “Violins of Hope” by JamesGrymes on September 12th atMidtown Reader.

The author will lecture onOctober 10th, before theRemembrance Dinner to be heldin the Longmire Recital Hall(second floor) from 4:00 to 5:00.The topic of free lecture,“Although Music Here is Chronic,

Many Lives are Disharmonic':Cabaret Songs as Discord to theHarmonizing Narrative ofTheresienstadt.”

Don’t forget to purchase yourtickets for the AnnualRemembrance Dinner that willfeature an honor to Senator BillMontford as the First LegislatorAward and Guest Speaker authorJames Grymes, who will sign hisbook, Violins of Hope. TheHonorary Chairs, Judy and SteveWinn, will host the evening andrecognize Senator Montford witha tribute.

The Holocaust EducationResource Council is located on theTallahassee Community College

campus as a proud partner.The support will lead theway to create permanentresources required forschools to ensure impact inthe future. We are inspiredby a new initiative withLeon County Schools toestablish a HolocaustEducation Advocate to leadthe way as a modelprogram.

Donate now to give as away to share the importantgoals and support our

schools. HERC’s impact will reachmore students, teachers, andcommunity members thanks toYOU! Together we are making adifference.

BarbaraBarbara Goldstein

Executive Director

Our Work Is Never Finished

Inside this Edition . . .

Author James Grymes speaks at Remembrance Dinner aboutmusic and survival

Executive Directors Message . . . . . . . 1HERC Book Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Rememberance Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Sponsor Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4HERC Book Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Susan Baldino Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Education Workshop 2019 . . . . . . . . . 9Become an Advocate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Membership Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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The HERC Book Group 2019-2020

For more information contact Barbara Goldstein at [email protected]

www.HolocaustResources.org

Designated Site of the FDOE Commissioner's Task Force on Holocaust Education. Funded in part by FDOE Commissioner's Task Force on Holocaust Education.

The Holocaust Education Resource Council(HERC) Book Group eagerly anticipates the start of itseighth year. Its primary purpose is to foster a greaterunderstanding of the history of the Holocaust,including its origins and processes, as well as topromote good relations among diverse groups withinour community. This is an open forum and everyone is welcome to come and participate.

Discussions will be held on the second Thursdayevery other month from September through March.All meetings will be held at at Midtown Reader at 1123Thomasville Rd. from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm. Books areselected by a volunteer committee, and professionaleducators facilitate the discussion and providehistorical background. The selections for the 2019-2020 season are:

“Violins of Hope” by James A. Grymes September 12, 2019The tales, both horrific and inspiring, of violinsand the resilient Jewish musicians who playedthem in the camps, the ghettos, and the forestsfor survival and hope during the Holocaust aretold along with the story of the Israeliviolinmaker who is committed to bringing theseinstruments back to life.

“The Unwanted ” by Michael DobbsJanuary 9, 2020Deeply researched, this is the riveting narrative offour extended Jewish families from southernGermany; their deportations to concentrationcamps in France and their desperate struggles toobtain American visas. Their fates are linked to thecontentious divide in the U.S. over immigrationpolicy under FDR. The result is a story ofdetermination, success, and frustration.

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather MorrisNovember 14, 2019Morris met an aging Lale Sokolov and realizedthat his harrowing story of survival as a Jewishtattooist in Auschwitz needed to be told. Lalearrived in Auschwitz in 1942 and throughcunning, black marketeering, and willpowersurvived. Love and humanity existed even underthe darkest conditions possible.

“The Liberators, America’sWitnesses to the Holocaust” by Michael HirshMarch 12, 2020To commemorate the 75th anniversary of theliberation of the concentration camps in westernEurope, we will discuss the astonishing stories told bythe first Americans to see the full and horrifying truthof the inconceivable atrocities of the Holocaust.Hirsh interviewed over 150 Liberators whoserecollections are powerful, vivid, and life-changing.

HERC encourages all book group participants to join HERC and help fund teacher training for Holocauststudies in our schools and special programs in the community throughout the year. A membership formmay be obtained at the HERC Web site listed below.

HERC Book Group at Midtown Reader at 1123 Thomasville Road • 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Tallahasse Community College

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ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE DINNERStand Up, Speak Out – Make the World a Better Place

2019

When: Thursday, October 10, 2019 Time: Reception 5:30 PM • Dinner 6:30 PM Where: Goodwood Carriage House 1600 Miccosukee Road FREE Parking at the Goodwood Museum & Gardens

www.HolocaustResources.org

HonoringSenator Bill MontfordLegislative Award

Guest SpeakerJames GrymesAuthor Violins of Hope

$100 per person – Limited SpacePaypal at HERC website or mail check to PO Box 16282, Tallahassee, Florida 32317

Sponsorships Available • For More Information Contact Barbara Goldstein • [email protected] • 850-443.9649

Honorary Chairs: Judy and Steve Winn • Emcee: Gil ZifferFundraising Event In Support of Holocaust Education

Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Man’s Darkest Hour

National JewishBook Award

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www.HolocaustResources.org

Individual Tickets are $100.00 eachRESERVATIONS DEADLINE OCTOBER 4, 2019

Please send checks to: HERC, P.O. Box 16282, Tallahassee, FL 32317 OR PayPal on www.holocaustresources.orgFor more information contact Barbara Goldstein at 850-443-9649 or [email protected]

ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE DINNERSponsor Opportunities

Thursday, October 10, 2019NEW LOCATION: Goodwood Carriage House • 1600 Miccosukee Road

• Event is named for Sponsor with listing as dinner sponsoron invitation and on marketing materials

• Two tables – Twenty dinner tickets• Photo-op with guest speaker• Business logo with link or Sponsor’s name on

HERC website

• On screen donor listing with verbal recognition at event • Business logo or Sponsor’s name listed in event program • Lobby Big Board listing • HERC Annual Membership

TITLE SPONSOR – $10,000

• One table – Ten dinner tickets • Photo-op with guest speaker• Business logo with link or Sponsor’s name on

HERC website

• On screen donor listing with verbal recognition at event • Business logo or Sponsor’s name listed in event program • Lobby Big Board listing• HERC Annual Membership

GOLD SPONSOR – $5,000

• One table – Eight dinner tickets • Business logo with link or Sponsor’s name on

HERC website• On screen donor listing with verbal recognition at event

• Business logo or Sponsor’s name listed in event program • Lobby Big Board listing• HERC Annual Membership

SILVER SPONSOR – $3,000

• Six dinner tickets• Business logo with link or Sponsor’s name on

HERC website• On screen donor listing with verbal recognition at event

• Business logo or Sponsor’s name listed in event program• Lobby Big Board listing• HERC Annual Membership

HOPE SPONSOR – $2,000

• Two dinner tickets• Business logo with link or Sponsor’s name on

HERC website • On screen donor listing with verbal recognition at event

• Business logo or Sponsor’s name listed in event program • Lobby Big Board listing• HERC Annual Membership

REMEMBRANCE SPONSOR – $500

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When: Thursday, September 12, 2019Time: 6:30 pm Where: Midtown Reader

1123 Thomasville Road

For more information contact Barbara Goldstein at [email protected]

www.HolocaustResources.org

Designated Site of the FDOE Commissioner's Task Force on Holocaust Education. Funded in part by FDOE Commissioner's Task Force on Holocaust Education.

(From a review in Goodreads) A stirring testamentto the strength of the human spirit and the power ofmusic, Violins of Hope tells the remarkable stories ofviolins played by Jewish musicians during theHolocaust, and the Israeli violin maker dedicated tobringing these inspirational instruments back to life.

The violin has formed an important aspect ofJewish culture for centuries . . . But during theHolocaust, the violin assumed extraordinary new roleswithin the Jewish community. For some musicians, theinstrument was a liberator; for others, it was a saviorthat spared their lives. For many, the violin providedcomfort in mankind’s darkest hour, and, in at least onecase, helped avenge murdered family members. Aboveall, the violins of the Holocaust represented strengthand optimism for the future.

In Violins of Hope, music historian James A.Grymes tells the amazing, horrifying, and inspiringstory of the violins of the Holocaust, and of AmnonWeinstein, the renowned Israeli violinmaker who hasdevoted the past twenty years to restoring these

instruments in tribute to those who were lost,including 400 members of his own family. Juxtaposingtales of individual violins with one man’s harrowingstruggle to reconcile his own family’s history and thehistory of his people, it is a poignant, affecting, andultimately uplifting look at the Holocaust and itsenduring impact.

Other events surrounding the Violins of Hope:James Grymes will be the featured speaker at thisyear’s HERC Dinner on October 10. See theinformation about how to acquire tickets for thedinner and to hear him speak elsewhere in thenewsletter.

In addition, to honor Mr. Grymes and the Violins ofHope, the FSU Symphony Orchestra will present aconcert entitled, “Violins of Hope” on Sunday, October13 at 3:00PM in the Ruby Diamond Concert Hall.General Admission. Tickets are $10. Seniors and non-FSU students are $7, and FSU students are free withID. The box office is closed until September 3.

Violins of Hope by James A. Grymes

Announcing The HERC Book Discussion Reads for Fall 2019

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A Personal Experience at Auschwitz

We read about the Holocaustin books and articles, hear

about it through testimonies andoral histories, see it in artifactsand exhibitions, watch it indocumentaries and feature films.Importantly, we learn about it inHERC’s programs and trainings.

But, plodding on the dirtwhere the atrocities took place,squinting in dark cells, feelingrain and wind drive throughmuddy alleys, and smelling thecamp’s dank barracks deliver asearing immediacy that wordsand images cannot.

For me, the immediacy Iexperienced at Auschwitz notonly reinforced my loathing ofNazi ideology and practice, but itbrought a palpable closeness to itsvictims. The Prelude

My spring 2019 journey toAuschwitz began in Kraków as Ifirst observed the Jewish presencein Poland. I walked throughKazimierz, the city’s Jewishquarter. It was a livelyneighborhood bustling withshops and restaurants, sevensynagogues, klezmer music,urban art, and bohemian vibes. Istrolled through the passagewayused as a backdrop during thefilming of Schindler’s List. Allaround was evidence of Jewishculture—stones and pebbles laidon Jewish graves at the RemahCemetery, Stars of David on wallsand monuments, menorahmotifs, and kosher menus.

I crossed the Vistula River tothe Nazi Jewish Ghetto inPodgórze, a place less lively than

Kazimierz. Podgórze isdistinguished by the monumentof chairs, “Heroes of the GhettoSquare,” Tadeusz Pankiewicz’spharmacy, Schindler’s FactoryMuseum, and stark remnants ofthe ghetto walls that confined upto 20,000 Jews.

The austere Heroes Squaremonument, comprised by 70 castiron and bronze chairs,memorializes the Jews who diedin the ghetto. During its two-yearexistence, several thousand Jewswere killed or died of starvation.In 1942-43, the Nazi’s emptiedthe ghetto in three phases andhundreds were transported toAuschwitzAuschwitz I and AuschwitzII-Birkenau

My exploration of Kraków

prefaced my primary destination.I was headed to Auschwitz I andAuschwitz II-Birkenau to bearwitness to the injustice andhorror of the Holocaust. There Idiscovered the piercing blade ofNazi torture, the coldest form ofman’s inhumanity to man, and thedepths of pain and sorrow.

Step by step, I confrontedbrutality after brutality. At the

Ghetto Heroes Square memorial withview of Tadeusz Pankiewicz’sPharmacy in the background right. –On March 13-14, 1943 the Nazisliquidated the ghetto. The populationof section A was sent into forced laborat the Płaszów labor camps and OskarSchindler’s factory. The inhabitants ofsection B – mostly women, children, theelderly and the ill – were immediatelymurdered in the ghetto or weretransported to the Auschwitz-Birkenauconcentration camp for massexecution. The chairs are reminiscent ofthe discarded furniture and personalbelongings strewn across the squarewhen the Jews left.

Nissambaum Foundation Memorial inKazimierz in memory of the Jewishvictims of World War II. AlthoughKazimierz is known as a Jewish enclave,there are very few Jews living there now.In 1939 70,000 Jews lived in Krakow, butnow only around 2,000. Most wereforcibly relocated in 1941 by Germanoccupying forces into the Krakow ghettojust across the river in Podgórze.

Susan Davis Baldino teaches graduate seminars in Museum Studies at FSU and works for Arts4AllFlorida, the state organization on arts and disability.

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main camp (Auschwitz I), Isensed the indignities of physicaland emotional cruelty – thehumiliation of head shaving, thepain of tattooing, the anguish ofsolitary confinement, the desolateache of being torn from lovedones. The fear and forebodingwere intense as I trudged throughBlocks 4, 5, 6, and 7 that housedisplays of prisoners’ possessions,hair, shoes, and squalid livingconditions. Captives’ hair wasbaled like cotton, shipped away,and spun into fabric for the Naziwar effort.

I passed by Block 10, the site ofmedical experiments includingsterilization. It was here that JosefMengele subjected twins tounethical examinations and deathby lethal injections for thepurposes of autopsies andanalysis of internal organs.

I walked through Block 11, thecamp’s jail, where prisonerssuspected of resistance or

attempted escape were regularlytortured and executed. Somewere subject to death bystarvation. In the basement,standing cells held four peopleeach in smaller than a squaremeter’s space with just a 5 x 5cmopening for air.

As I left Block 11, I headeddown a long walkway to the firstgas chamber at Auschwitz. Ilooked up at the ceiling holesfrom which emanated the deadlyZyklon B. I was asked to remainsilent because of the sacrednature of this gloomy room whereso many were killed.Crematorium I was adjacent tothe gas chamber. I turned myhead, not wanting to see insidethe furnaces where severalcadavers were stuffed at once tomake cremation as efficient andquick as possible.

Three kilometers away, atAuschwitz II-Birkenau, I came tothe train platform where SS

doctors oversaw the selectionprocess that separated mothersfrom their children, sisters fromtheir brothers, the elderly fromthe young – life and deathdecisions that divided those whocould work and those deemedunnecessary. About eightypercent of those whodisembarked from the trainsmarched toward the gaschambers. The four largest gaschambers could each hold 2,000prisoners at one time.

I walked that line along thetracks to the huge ruins wheremore than a million people weremurdered. I walked through thecold wretched barracks thathoused those who were allowedto live for a few weeks or a month

My Contribution to Understanding

Barbed wire boundaries at AuschwitzI.– Auschwitz I was the main camp inthe Auschwitz complex. Constructionbegan in May 1940 in artillerybarracks formerly used by the Polisharmy. Auschwitz I was primarily aconcentration camp but also includes agas chamber and crematorium.

Auschwitz I Block 11 – Prisoners calledthis building the “death block” whereprisoners were tortured in regular cells,dark cells, and standing cells. Manywere executed at the Death Walllocated in the yard at the side Block 11.

continued on page 8

Auschwitz II-Birkenau train platform,site of the “selection process.”– Jewswere transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau freight train carrying2,000-3,000 people in cattle cars. Whenprisoners disembarked men andwomen who were young, healthy, andable to work were waved to the rightwhile the old, the ill, and youngchildren were waved to the left andwalked to their deaths.

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or two. With every stride, Ilearned about emotional andphysical manipulation, starvationsickness, and forced labor. More than Darkness

My time at Auschwitz was fullof sinister, foreboding feelings;nevertheless, there wasunremitting tenderness thatmollified the darkness. It camefrom the prisoners with which Ifelt a strong connection. I sawtheir sometimes beautiful,sometimes beseeching faces inphotographs, I saw their shoes,their prostheses, their kitchengoods, their hair. I walked in theirfootsteps and stared at theirincommodious sleeping quartersdevoid of toilets, water, and heat.

My head rang with theirtormented whispers, but therewere hopeful utterances, too. Itwas as though they were speakingto me from beyond the torture,beyond the hate from a place intheir hearts that bespoke of love,camaraderie, and faith. They weretelling me to hold true to thevalues reflected by good, honest,caring individuals, and to rejectthe insidious injustices of evil.

Now What?My Auschwitz guide said he

once met a survivor who spoke ofthe power of hope that buoyedHolocaust victims. “Hope is thelast to die,” he quoted. Thatsimple sentence echoed throughthe paths of the camps andresounds today. It lives on inAuschwitz survivor HalinaBirenbaum’s book, Hope is theLast to Die: A coming of age underNazi terror. I began to understandthe power of hope as I connectedto those who suffered.

I will hope for a better worldwhere every single person can bekind to every single other person.More than that, I will use thetransformative power of myAuschwitz encounter to become amore knowledgeable, activecitizen who speaks againstdiscrimination, prejudice, andstereotyping.

I will answer the charge setforth by Halina Birenbaum, “AfterAuschwitz, I don’t ask anymorehow it is possible, only what to doabout it. People learn history, butthey don’t learn from history. Thatis why it’s necessary to educate, to

tell stories, and not allow peopleto forget.”

Susan Davis Baldinoteaches graduateseminars in MuseumStudies at FSU andworks for Arts4AllFlorida, the stateorganization on artsand disability.

Richard A. Friedemann made an astonishing flight

from his Nazi captors — escapingfrom a firing squad on the sameday Germany surrendered — butthe memories of theconcentration camps and themurder of his parents tormentedhim forever.

Friedemann died Aug. 20 atthe age of 92 in Tallahassee,where he spent his final years.After fleeing post-war Europe, hebuilt a life in the United States,where he married, raised twochildren and had a successfulcareer as a psychiatric socialworker in Iowa, Ohio and Florida.

A Personal Experience at Auschwitz (continued from page 7)

Plaque at the International Monumentat Auschwitz II-Birkenau – Situatedbetween the ruins of crematoria II andIII, the plaque is part of the largegranite monument dedicated in 1967.Its text was corrected in 1992 making itclear that the majority of Auschwitzvictims were Jewish.

Richard A. Friedemann: A Holocaust survivor's incredible escape

Read more about Richard at

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Register at: holocaustresources.org/holocaust -education-workshop-2019For more info, contact: Barbara [email protected] • 850-443-9649*FREE Program with Resources Provided

TEACHING THE HOLOCAUSTEmpowering Students

When: Monday, October 21, 2019Time: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm Where: Workforce Development Building

Tallahassee Community College444 Appleyard Dr

Sponsored by

Why Attend This Program?This professional development session will give you the toolsto teach and initiate important discussions about thecomplex lessons of the Holocaust. In exploring classroom-tested strategies that can be implemented in your classroom,you will leavewith increasedconfidence andeffectivematerials totackle the toughquestions yourstudents haveabout thissubject. The why.The how.

What Is Echoes & Reflections?Echoes & Reflections is the premier source for Holocausteducational materials and dynamic content, empoweringteachers and students with the insight needed to questionthe past and foresight to impact the future. We partner witheducators to support them, foster confidence, and amplifytheir skills and resources to teach about the Holocaust in acomprehensive and meaningful way.

To learn more, visit our website at echoesandreflections.orgA joint program of the Anti-Defamation League, USC Shoah Foundation, and Yad Vashem

Program GoalsThrough this program, educators will:

1 Explore a sound pedagogy for the planning andimplementation of Holocaust education in theclassroom;

2 Examine instructional enhancements to supportstudent learning and understanding;

3 Discover and utilize classroom-ready digital assetsincluding lesson plans, visual history testimonies,and additional primary source materials;

4 Enhance personal knowledge about the Holocaust,including the history of antisemitism; and

5 Build confidence and capacity to teach this complexsubject.

"The ultimate job of a teacher is to make connectionsto your students with the curriculum. You want themto walk away with a personal sense of responsibility.Echoes & Reflections helps me do that.”

— Social Studies Teacher, Pinebush High School, New York

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