Groundbreaking for the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida, 1986.
In 1980, Tess Wise, a Holocaust survivor from Poland, approached the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando and Valencia Community College to develop a Holocaust educational center. They began with a major Holocaust conference in 1981 that brought in nationally known scholars. The following year they sponsored a Conference on Terrorism. In 1986, a Holocaust Center facility was constructed, which included a permanent exhibit and a library with documentary and archival collections. The building expanded in 1994 and again in 2005. Front row L-R: the Rev. Dr. Earl Scarbeary (first president), Tess Wise, Henrietta Katzen, Helen Greenspun, Susan Arkin, Marilyn Goldman, Eddie Titen; back row L-R: unknown, Marc Katzen, Eva Ritt, Stanley Creel, Abe Wise
Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida
L-R: HMREC Past President Judy Albertson, Elie Wiesel, Tess Wise and David Albertson greet guests when Nobel Peace Prize winner Wiesel spoke at the Holocaust Center’s Dinner of Tribute, 2001.
The late author, activist and humanitarian was honored by the Holocaust Center for his dedication to teaching the lessons of the Holocaust. Wiesel addressed a crowd of close to 1,000, sharing his story and inspiring attendees to become defenders of peace. He reminded them that, above all, compassion and education are the keys to a safer world. The Dinner of Tribute began in 1988, and is the Center’s largest fundraiser.
Heritage Florida Jewish News
Local Survivors, like Helen Greenspun (center), have played a major role in teaching educators about Holocaust history, 2013.
As a teenager, Helen Greenspun survived labor and concentration camps as well as a death march. She spent three decades sharing her experiences with teachers and students, telling them of the cruelty of the Nazis and the ‘miracles’ that saved her and her siblings. At the Holocaust Center’s annual Summer Teacher’s Institute, she tells them, “I remind the world of the darkest chapter in the history of mankind so that history does not repeat itself. I speak for my father who was killed and for all the girls I knew in camp who died. I speak for those who have no voice.”
Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida
Central Florida Holocaust survivors in a candlelighting
observance of Yom Ha-Shoah, 2013.
Each year the Holocaust Center sponsors a community program to remember Hitler’s six million Jewish victims and to honor the survivors, rescuers and liberators who keep their memory alive. One of the most touching parts of the commemoration is the lighting of memorial candles, one for each of the six million and one to honor the liberators. It accommodates the Jewish tradition of yahrzeit. Since deaths in the Holocaust are often of unknown date, these candles offer an opportunity to remember their lives. L-R: Sonja Marchesano, Miriam Apfel, Marianne Schleichkorn, Gene Klein, Vera Fekete, Sylvia Rapp and Elly Soski
Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida
Most of the visitors who come to the Holocaust Center are students who meet with the education staff to learn the lessons of hate, 2016.
As they observe the exhibits and discuss the history, students develop insight into what it means to be a good person and a good citizen. From the stories of rescuers they see the importance of standing up for the rights and safety of others. From panels on resistance they learn about courage and community. The Center’s exhibits contain very few graphic images. Instead, they identify the experiences of the Jews before, during and after the Holocaust—people whose lives were interrupted by hate.
Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida