The FHM highlights the individual stories of 25 Holocaust Survivors
March 25, 2017 [St. Petersburg, FL] – The Florida Holocaust Museum (The FHM) has recently partnered with Eckerd College to release a 25th Anniversary oral history series titled “25 Survivors, 25 Stories… Celebrating 25 Years!”
Over the next 25 months, the Museum’s oral history series will feature a different Holocaust Survivor on the 25th of every month. Each Survivor brings to the series an individual voice that enlivens our understanding of the Holocaust; the war’s effects on individuals, families, and communities dispersed across the world; and its reverberations into the present moment.
The first story was released this morning and features The FHM’s founder Walter Loebenberg. An excerpt from the piece is as follows:
Walter walked to the end of the hall, and there he met ten other teenage boys. They were tasked with sweeping the floor as the rest of the Jewish men were evacuated. When the hall was emptied, they swept until the floor was clean. Police officers surrounded the group and ordered them to march from the hall. The youths were marched into the street and past a jeering crowd.
“Mostly women,” Walter said. “They wanted to kill us.”
When they reached the street, the police officers jumped aside.
“We were all young,” Walter said, “and we could run, so I ran home, hours and hours through the night.”
In the coming months, The FHM will present numerous free 25th Anniversary celebratory programs, events, and exhibitions, along with its daily educational and outreach efforts.
March 26- The FHM invites the community to come together in a celebration of family, history, heritage, and delicious recipes at the Museum’s 3rd Annual Pass the Plate: The FHM’s Spring Cook-Off.
March 30- New York Times bestselling author Tilar J. Mazzeo will speak as part of The Debbie and Brent Sembler Florida Holocaust Museum lecture series at USFSP.
April 13- The FHM’s Genocide and Human Rights Awareness Movement (GHRAM) lecture series brings Rwandan Genocide testimony expert Karen Jungblut to St. Petersburg.
To learn more about The FHM’s upcoming 25th Anniversary events and exhibitions, visit the Museum online at www.TheFHM.org/25th.
The Florida Holocaust Museum is located at 55 5th Street S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
About The Florida Holocaust Museum
2017 marks a monumental milestone for The Florida Holocaust Museum (The FHM) as the Museum celebrates its 25th Anniversary. One of the largest Holocaust museums in the country, and one of three nationally accredited Holocaust museums, The FHM honors the memory of millions of men, women and children who suffered of died in the Holocaust. The FHM is dedicated to teaching members of all races and cultures the inherent worth and dignity of human life in order to prevent future genocides. For additional information, please visit www.TheFHM.org.