Holocaust Education Week, February 23-27, Showcases a Series of Thought-Provoking Presentations and Films
The legacy of the Holocaust will be considered from cultural, scholarly and personal perspectives through a series of enlightening film presentations, lectures and community discussions during Holocaust Education Week, February 23-27, at various locations throughout Miami-Dade County.
Holocaust Education Week is a community-wide program of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, a Committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. All events are free of charge and open to the public. Due to limited seating, persons wishing to attend Holocaust Education Week events are encouraged to make advance reservations online or call 305.538.1663.
70 Years After Auschwitz: The Rise of Anti-Semitism
In a fascinating opening night program on Monday, February 23, Dr. Robert Jan Van Pelt will explore the connection between fading historical memory of the Holocaust and the recent rise of anti-Semitism. The program will take place at Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, 20400 Northeast 30th Avenue, Aventura, beginning at 7 p.m.
Jan Van Pelt is a renowned Holocaust scholar and professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He is well known for his role as a star witness defending scholar Deborah Lipstadt in a prominent libel trial against Holocaust denier David Irving.
Surviving Mengele and the Holocaust: Leah’s Journey to Freedom
In advance of her upcoming memoir, My Eyes Looking Back at Me: Insight Into a Survivor’s Soul, Leah Cik Roth will speak of her personal experiences as a teen in Czechoslovakia. Her presentation will take place on Tuesday, February 24 at 11:15 a.m. at the Miami-Dade College Homestead Campus, Building F, 500 College Terrace, Homestead.
Currently a retired resident of Aventura, Roth survived four concentration camps, selection by the infamous “Angel of Death” Dr. Josef Mengele for experimentation, a gas chamber and a death march.
Film Screening: Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story
This docudrama examines the story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese General Consul in Bordeaux, France, who issued 30,000 visas to refugees (including 10,000 Jews) fleeing the Germans in defiance of strict orders from his government. Screening will begin on Tuesday, February 24 at 7 p.m. at Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus, 20350 Northeast 26th Avenue, North Miami Beach. The film is in French with English subtitles.
Robert Jacobvitz, who has championed the cause of Aristides de Sousa Mendes since the 1980s and is the Florida representative of the Sousa Mendes Foundation, will moderate a post-film discussion.
Film Screening: One Survivor Remembers: The Gerda Weissman Klein Story
This inspiring film chronicles the courageous story of survival of Gerda Weissman Klein, who lived through six years of Nazi rule, including a 350-mile death march. It will be shown on Wednesday, February 25, at 2 p.m. at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach.
Holocaust survivors Joe Sachs and Fred Mulbauer will participate in a post-film panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Chairperson of the Holocaust Education Committee.
In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry
Author Carla McCafferty will speak about American journalist Varian Fry, who was sent to Vichy, France, in 1940 by the Emergency Rescue Committee, a private American relief agency. In his 13 months there, he ran a clandestine escape network that succeeded in rescuing 4,000 people, including Jewish artists and scholars such as Marc Chagall and Hannah Arendt.
McCafferty will give her presentation on Wednesday, February 25 at 7 p.m. at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, and on Thursday, February 26 at 9:50 a.m. at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus, Building 6, Room 6120, 11011 Southwest 104th Street, Miami.
Students at the Scheck Hillel Community School will experience this presentation on Thursday, February 26 at 1:30 p.m. in a program open only to Scheck students.
Building Miami Beach: The Impact of Holocaust Survivors
Rabbi Solomon Schiff, former Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, will detail the contributions of Holocaust survivors to the landscape, culture and prosperity of Miami Beach. His presentation will include behind-the-scenes stories of the creation of the Holocaust Memorial.
Rabbi Schiff will speak on Thursday, February 26 at 7 p.m. at the Holocaust Memorial. His presentation is part of the “100 Years of Miami Beach Celebration.”
High School Students Interact with Holocaust Survivors
Students at Miami Beach High School will spend the morning of Friday, February 27 with Holocaust survivors Alex Gross and Alan Hall, who will share their first-hand experiences during World War II and in later years when they forged new lives in the United States.
The conversation between Gross, Hall, and 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students will be moderated by David Reese, a language arts teacher in his 15th year with Miami-Dade Public Schools.
About Holocaust Education Week
Holocaust Education Week is a community-wide program of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach in cooperation with Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center; Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus; City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Florida International University Urban Space Museum Miami Beach; Miami Beach Centennial, Celebrating 100 Years; Miami-Dade College, Miami-Dade Public Schools Department of Social Sciences; Miami Jewish Film Festival/Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education; and Scheck Hillel Community Day School. The program is underwritten by Naomi Wilzig in blessed memory of Siggi B. Wilzig, and is made possible with the support of the State of Florida Department of Education.
For more information about Holocaust Education Week and to register, visit holocaustmemorialmiamibeach.org or call 305.538.1663.
