MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR THE FUTURE:
THE FIRST SOUTH FLORIDA HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

Over the past 29 years, the Center has attained an unprecedented record of achievement in documentation and education. Currently, the challenge the Center’s Board of Directors has now set for itself is to build the first South Florida Holocaust Museum and continue to enrich and enhance our mission of A LIVING MEMORIAL THROUGH EDUCATION.

The case for our museum is simple and straightforward. These are the facts. Over 60 years after the Holocaust, we find ourselves facing the following inevitable truths: Holocaust denial is on the rise. There is an alarming resurgence in anti-Semitism. Our beloved Survivor generation is diminishing too quickly and we, at the Center, have been in the trenches for almost three decades aggressively confronting hatred, prejudice, and violence and we need to do more. Building the Museum could not be more urgent, more timely, and more necessary. In addition, over these many years, we have found out that few institutions can reach across the cultural divide. However, the Center, which was founded as an ecumenical, nondenominational institution can, and will continue to do so.

Since our inception, we have been uniquely positioned to open the doors of diversity. This year, we will develop an updated website and a soon-to-be online You Tube site and will create an online virtual museum, so that our invaluable holdings can be globally accessed, enabling the Center to bring the classroom and the resources to students and teachers anywhere in the world.

The Center has proven that we have the ability over the past 29 years. We must now prove we have the capability to join in the global conversation that teaches our children and all children that virulent hatred of one group is a threat to all groups.

In the months ahead, we will launch our $18 million dollar Capital Campaign as well as our Leave-a-Gift-in-Your-Will Legacy Program.

At the Holocaust Center, we have learned over the past three decades that a museum is not just a collection of things. It is a place where oral history, photographs, documents, and artifacts are organized in a manner that tells a story and conveys a message.

Plans for the first South Florida Holocaust Museum include:

• The creation of the first South Florida Holocaust Museum, which will be the only museum in North America to tell the story in English and in Spanish, is the next logical and vital step.
• This Museum will provide a unique opportunity for our students to understand how hatred, prejudice, bigotry, and evil left unchecked can lead to genocide if we remain silent and indifferent.
  
• The Museum that is envisioned will feature the eyewitness testimonies of our South Florida Survivor community, and special attention will be given to the story of what happened when the infamous ship, the S.S. St. Louis, sailed past the shores of Miami Beach.
  
• The story of the Holocaust will be appropriate for ages eleven and older, with parental discretion advised. The design will take an interactive, multimedia, state-of-the-art approach combining pictures, text, audio, and interactive displays. The Museum will engage the casual visitor and deeply inform those with an intense interest. Regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, or religion, visitors will leave with a deeper and better understanding of how hatred and prejudice can lead to genocide.
  
• The Museum is being conceptually designed by a group of scholars, historians, Survivors, and other eyewitnesses as well as a community educational outreach committee and the Board of Directors in consultation with the design firm of Gallagher and Associates and museum consultants including Dr. Michael Berenbaum.
  
• A permanent exhibition will cover all major areas and topics of the Holocaust.

WHY WE ARE BUILDING THIS “LEGACY OF REMEMBRANCE”

• As the generation of Survivors age and their stories continue to be denied, distorted, and dejudaized, there is an urgency to ensure the truth. If not now, when?
  
• In light of the dramatic growth of global hatred and anti-Semitism, it is critical that we alert our students to be vigilant, speak out, take a stand, and understand the meaning of NEVER AGAIN.
  
• In light of the ongoing problem of genocide in our times and the inadequacy of the world’s response to it, we must sensitize future generations to remain vigilant and responsive in this opposition.
  
• This effort will enhance our mission to be compliant with the Florida Statute 1003.42, which mandates required public school instruction of the history of the Holocaust and what it means to be a responsible and respectful person for the purposes of understanding and appreciating the richness of differences in diversity.
  
• We are committed to ensuring that present and future generations are sensitized to the universal lessons and implications of the Holocaust.
  
• Above all, we have pledged our sacred trust to the Survivors of the Holocaust that their words, memories, and silences would forever be remembered and embodied within the walls of this Museum.

CONCLUSION

At the heart of the idea of A LIVING MEMORIAL THROUGH EDUCATION the belief that, through education, our students can and will change for the better. Some students walk away from a full day experience with Survivor with a deeper commitment toward human decency. Some walk away having thought, for the first time, about what the concept of human decency means.

The story of the Holocaust touches souls because of its messages, truths, and values. No matter what one’s country of origin, ethnic background, cultural heritage, religion, age, or gender, respect and decency for human dignity is a value that must be shared by all in order for humanity to survive.

There is no place in human society for inhuman acts and beliefs. Every generation needs to learn that lesson. We
owe it to ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. Visitors to the Museum will leave changed with a stronger, personal commitment to end the darkness and ignorance and stop the prejudice and hatred. Support for the first South Florida Holocaust Museum will ensure the Legacy of Remembrance as this experience moves visitors from darkness to light.

As our late and beloved founder Arnold M. Picker so eloquently noted:

It is only the beginning. There is no end to the story. It will go on and on and on. And unless this process of education goes on, past all of us…past our children and grandchildren, it will all have been in vain. The power of this living education must go on. What we are attempting to do is make permanent the record of the history that shall not be forgotten.