|
The FHM highlights the individual stories of 25 Holocaust Survivors
|
|
April 25, 2018 [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 thirteenth story was released this morning and features Holocaust Survivor Sabine Van Dam. An excerpt from the piece is as follows:
Her father’s ambitious plan was to walk from the Netherlands to Belgium to France, and finally to Switzerland, which was not occupied. They walked until they reached the Dutch-Belgian border, where they had to sneak under the barbed wire fence because they didn’t have papers. They walked until they arrived in Antwerp, Belgium, where they found refuge in an abandoned house.
While in Antwerp, Sabine, her sister, and her mother did not leave the house. On a typical day, she recalls that her father would go out for around three hours. But one day, she recalls, “he was not back after three, four, four and a half hours. My mother was frantic, because here she was in a strange country, with two little girls, no phone, and we didn’t know anybody and were trapped in the house.”
She explained to us that during the time of the occupation, monetary rewards were offered for every Jew turned over to the authorities. A man had followed her father home and threatened to turn him in. Sabine’s father bargained with him, telling him that he could pay him more than amount of the reward. When her father finally arrived home, they paid off the man with her mother’s gold jewelry. Nonetheless, he threatened to turn them in the next day. It was time to flee again. “We waited a few hours,” Sabine said, “and put on all our clothes and started walking to Brussels, where we went to another house…”
To read Sabine’s story in its entirety, please visit: https://www.flholocaustmuseum.org/survivor-stories/story-13-sabine-van-dam.
The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Upcoming Programs and Events
In the coming months, The FHM will present numerous programs, events, and exhibitions, along with its daily educational and outreach efforts.
To learn more about The FHM’s upcoming events and exhibitions, visit the Museum online at www.TheFHM.org.
The Florida Holocaust Museum is located at 55 5th Street S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
About The Florida Holocaust Museum
2017 marked a monumental milestone for The Florida Holocaust Museum (The FHM) as the Museum celebrated 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
 Childhood photo of Sabine Van Dam.
Photo credit: Holocaust Museum & Education Center.
 Sabine Van Dam in 2018.
Photo credit: Eckerd College
|