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The FHM highlights the individual stories of 25 Holocaust Survivors
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December 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 tenth story was released this morning and features Holocaust Survivor Ellen Bernstein. An excerpt from the piece is as follows:
When Hitler came to power in 1933, she recalled, “things slowly, without you really noticing, changed.” For instance, her mother would send her to the nearest store to buy milk or eggs, and they wouldn’t have any. “And they used to say that the chickens weren’t laying, the cows weren’t giving milk, that kind of thing, which we believed.”
Later, her sister was expelled from her public school, and the Jewish community had to hold classes in a different building. Shortly afterwards, that school was closed down as well, and the classes took place in various people’s apartments.
Ellen and her family gradually experienced more and more antisemitism. After a while her father, who was a furniture salesman, was told by a client that he could not buy from her father anymore because he was Jewish. It was this event that led the family to try to move to America.
“Something you don’t forget,” Ellen said, “when you play with kids all of the time, and all of a sudden one day you’re playing together, and the next you’re a ‘dirty Jew,’ and they throw stones at you. So, you don’t forget these things ever…”
To read Ellen’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
 Ellen Bernstein in 2017.
Photo credit: Eckerd College.
 Photo of Ellen and her parents, taken in Bonn, Germany before the war.
Photo credit: The Florida Holocaust Museum, courtesy of Ellen Bernstein.
 Ellen’s 1938 passport.
Photo credit: The Florida Holocaust Museum, courtesy of Ellen Bernstein.
 Ellen with her doll Pummelchen.
Photo credit: The Florida Holocaust Museum, courtesy of Ellen Bernstein.
 Ellen speaking at the Summer Institute for Teachers at The Florida Holocaust Museum in 2016. Photo credit: The Florida Holocaust Museum
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