WE ARE HALF-WAY TO OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL WITH ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT TO GO! |
There has never been a better time to donate to The FHM. Thanks to the generosity of Amy and Michael Southard through their charitable foundation, Crofton Cares, donations made to our 7th Annual Trunks of Hope campaign will be matched dollar for dollar up to $25,000! Donate today at www.theFHM.org/trunks! |
THE WYGODA COLLECTION |
Over the summer The Florida Holocaust Museum received a generous donation of over 140 original artifacts and other ephemera from Dr. Mark Wygoda. His father, Hermann Wygoda, defied the Nazis throughout the war. Initially a smuggler to the Warsaw ghetto, he moved to Berlin in early 1943 where he worked undercover for nearly a year for a German business as a foreman, translator, and armed courier. Wygoda then escaped to German-occupied Italy where he joined the Italian partisans, becoming commander of an assault brigade and later an entire division. |
Here Dr. Wygoda is holding the belt and holster that his father issued to partisan Pietro Marachioli, known as “Furetto.” | Dr. Wygoda holding his fathers original memoir which he started writing in Polish in December 1944. In the Shadow of the Swastika by Hermann Wygoda, University of Illinois Press, was first published in 1998 (cloth) and later in 2003 (paper). |
Close-up of Hermann Wygoda’s memoir.Close-up of the belt and holster. |
“Commandante Enrico”, as he was known to his troops, planned and directed attacks on enemy forces, negotiated prisoner exchanges, and helped liberate the city of Savona. After the war he received decorations from three nations, including a Bronze Star medal from the United States. The collection contains original photographs, documents, identification cards, letters and more. The FHM is honored to be the home of such an incredible collection. |
DON’T MISS WEDU-TV’S SPECIAL PRESENTATION: CAN WE TALK? A CONVERSATION ABOUT ANTISEMITISM |
Please make sure to tune in to WEDU-TV, our local PBS station for a special on antisemitism on September 23 at 9:00 PM, for an honest conversation about the Jewish community, race, bias and Antisemitism in our region. Community members explore stereotypes and discrimination, historical analysis, advocacy and social reform. View this broadcast and many others from our local WEDU-TV station by clicking here. Additional resources, educational links, service project ideas and videos exploring the Jewish experience available at WEDU.org/talk Visit WEDU-TV on Facebook |
THE FHM HAS A NEW WEBSITE |
Our new website launched on Wednesday, with a brand new look, streamlined information, and optimized performance! Please visit OUR NEW SITE TODAY! |
UPCOMING EVENTS |
Book Talk: “A Woman’s Story of Survival: Franci’s War” Featuring Helen Epstein Wednesday, September 22nd at 6:30 pm. |
Virtual program via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheFHM The FHM is pleased to welcome prize-winning 2G journalist and author Helen Epstein for a virtual presentation about her mother’s book: FRANCI’S WAR. Available in paperback, e-book, and audio format, it is a powerful and compelling read by a Czech Jew who survived the war as a dressmaker and electrician. This program is held in association with The FHM’s newest exhibition Stitching History from the Holocaust. Children of the Holocaust and Where She Came From. In 2018, prompted by #Me Too and inquiries into her mother’s story, Helen revisited the manuscript, annotated it, and sold it to ten publishers around the world. Late author Franci Rabinek was 19 years old when, in March of 1939, the German Army entered Prague. That day began her six-year journey from Prague to Terezin, to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to slave labor camp in Hamburg, and to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated by the British. In this memoir, she offers her intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends. Her daughter provides context in a journalistic afterword and will answer questions about the process of editing and publishing her mother’s work. To learn more about Helen’s work, please visit her website:www.helenepstein.com |
Panel Discussion: Babi Yar and Shostakovich’s 13th Symphony: September 29, 2021, at 6:30 pm |
Virtual program via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheFHMPlease join us as we remember the 80th anniversary of the massacre at Babi Yar. On September 29 and 30, 1941, almost 34,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered in a ravine just outside of Kiev, Ukraine. This massacre was one of the largest mass killings during the Holocaust. |
During a virtual panel discussion, panelists will discuss the history of Babi Yar, its aftermath, and its legacy, including Dmitri Shostakovich’s 13th Symphony which he completed in 1962. The work sets poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s work on the mass execution to music. |
Panelists include The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Director of Education and Research Ursula Szczepinska (pictured below), The Florida Orchestra’s Resident Conductor Daniel Black (pictured above left) and the University of South Florida Professor of World Languages, Victor Peppard (pictured top right). The program will be moderated by The FHM’s Interim Executive Director Erin Blankenship. |
The Richard Rappaport Family Antisemitism Lecture Series with Yair Rosenberg: Wednesday, October 27, 2021, at 6:30 pm |
Virtual program via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheFHMThis year, The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Richard Rappaport Family Antisemitism Lecture Series features Yair Rosenberg. Rosenberg is a senior writer at Tablet Magazine, where he covers the intersection of politics, culture, and religion. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and The Guardian, and his writings have received awards from the Religion Newswriters Association and the Harvard Center for Jewish Studies. |
He has covered everything from misrepresentations of Orthodox Jews in the media, to Muslims and Jews in comic books, to political anti-Mormonism, and in his spare time, he creates bots that troll anti Semites on Twitter. His latest project is “Antisemitism, Explained,” a video series that tackles the biggest questions about anti-Jewish prejudice. |
Kristallnacht Commemoration (admission free day): Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 6:30 pm |
At The Florida Holocaust Museum and virtually via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheFHMThe Florida Holocaust Museum’s Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration features a commemorative service and candle lighting followed by our keynote speaker and author, Rachael Cerrotti. Cerrotti is an award-winning photographer, writer, educator and audio producer. Her work explores the intergenerational impact of war and memory. She is currently the Inaugural Storyteller in Residence for USC Shoah Foundation, where she produces and co-hosts The Memory Generation podcast. |
In 2019, Cerrotti released her first podcast – “We Share the Same Sky.” It was the first-ever narrative podcast based on a Holocaust survivor’s testimony and tells the story of her decade-long journey to retrace her grandmother’s war story. “We Share the Same Sky” was listed as one of the best podcasts of the year by HuffPost, A Reader’s Pick by Vulture Magazine and as a “Show We Love” by Apple Podcasts. In August 2021 she released her memoir by the same name. Cerrotti will discuss her grandmother’s story and how she shares her legacy today. She will be available to sign books at the close of the event. |
To encourage social distancing, seating at the Museum is limited. RSVPs for those attending in person are required. |
The Florida Holocaust Museum55 5th St. S, Saint Petersburg, FL 33701Phone: (727) 820-0100TheFHM.org |