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November 25, 2017 [St. Petersburg, FL] – The Florida Holocaust Museum (The FHM) has 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 ninth story was released this morning and features Holocaust Survivor René Hammond. An excerpt from the piece is as follows:
After approximately six weeks in Auschwitz, René was sent to work in German factories, first to a satellite of the Buchenwald concentration camp at Gelsenkirchen, Germany. When that camp was burned down in Allied bombing raids, she was sent to the Buchenwald satellite camp at Essen.
“We suffered a lot, guards that we had, they were SS and they were very cruel. For any little thing they would hit you. And one of them told us once that no matter who wins the war, they would always have enough time to kill us,” René said about her time in Essen.
While at Essen, she traveled to work at the Krupp factory every day. There, she met a German man who told her and her friends that he would help them if they were able to escape, because the war would be ending soon. While deciding if they would try to escape or not, René recalled thinking, “If we escape we have a chance-maybe we can survive by hiding. If they take us back to Auschwitz-it only means one thing, death.”
To read René’s story in its entirety, please visit:
Upcoming 25th Anniversary Programs and Events
In the coming months, The FHM will present numerous 25th Anniversary celebratory programs, events, and exhibitions, along with its daily educational and outreach efforts.
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.
Photos and credits
 Rene Hammond in 2017.
Photo credit: Eckerd College.
 Photo of René’s family taken in 1939 or 1940 in Hungary.
Photo credit: Eckerd College, courtesy of René Hammond.
 René with her sister Agnes, and Elisabeth and Erna Roth/Anolik in 1945.
Photo credit: Eckerd College, courtesy of René Hammond.
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