Newsletter Holocaust Education Resource Council€¦ · Tasha Weinstein Dear HERC Friends, Volunteers are a very important part of HERC. I encourage you to consider joining our board

NewsletterBoard of Directors

Barbara GoldsteinPresident

Rita BlankVice President

Robyn RachinSecretary

Sam KimelmanTreasurer

Monte FinkelsteinHERC Education Director

Dana EdwardsCommunication Director

At-Large MembersDonna CallawayPete CowdreyLinda Davey

Shari GewanterEileen Lerner

Amy PiotrowskiTasha Weinstein

Dear HERC Friends, Volunteers are a very important part of HERC. I encourage you to consider joining our board and participate in this or other volunteer opportunities. The hours are flexible and the gift of giving time is priceless. Volunteers are needed for maintaining the growing membership list and coordinating the Teacher Trunk Program. Both of these volunteer positions are important for reaching the community and helping to provide schools with valuable resources. To become a volunteer, please contact HERC by phone 850-443-9649, or by email at [email protected]. According to the dictionary, the word “remembrance” means, “the length of time over which recollection or memory extends.” As we acknowledge the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps, we still ask, “How will the Holocaust be remembered?” Unfortunately, the survivors that witnessed the horrors firsthand are passing and it is up to the next generation to help the world to

H o l o c a u s t E d u c a t i o n R e s o u r c e C o u n c i l

May 2015

“Never Forget.” All the books and movies cannot do justice to hearing a survivor share his or her story. Eyewitness testimonies tell about history in a unique way, and everyone’s story is different. We can learn about courage, hope, and strength every time a survivor’s voice is heard. To honor all the survivors, we must pass on the lessons to hope for peace and understanding for all. There will be many programs announced in the fall and everyone can support Holocaust education by becoming a HERC member. Your donation provides the opportunity for teachers and students to receive additional training and resources. Please consider to make a donation now. You’d be amazed at how far it goes! Remember, every little bit helps educate the next generation. Membership forms are available on the HERC website.

Barbara GoldsteinHERC President

H ER C 1Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O. Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org

Inside this Edition...

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERCTallahassee

Yom Hashoah Remembrance at FL Capitol ..... 2Photos of Capitol Remembrance ..... 3 & 5 & Essay/Art Contest Survivor Tells Story for Remembrance ..... 4Holocaust Teacher Trunks ..... 52015 Essay & Art Contest Winners ..... 6

Holocaust Film Series Conclusion ..... 6Holocaust Remembrance Campaign ..... 7Raa Middle School Performs Holocaust Play ..... 72015-16 Book Club ..... 7HERC Featured Member of the Month ..... 8Membership ..... 9



TALLAHASSEE – April 16 marked Holocaust Remembrance Day across the nation. This day, known as Yom HaShoah, is the one day of the year we make a special effort to remember those who suf-fered, fought and died more than 70 years ago during one of mankind’s darkest moments. Tallahassee’s Holocaust Edu-cation Resource Council (HERC) partnered with The Florida Holo-caust Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla., to commemorate Yom HaShoah this year at the capitol. During the ceremony, held Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on floor 22 of the Capitol, two survivors, their children and guests gathered to remember the lives af-fected by the Holocaust. Survivors Walter Loebenberg, who founded The Florida Holocaust Museum in 1989, and Mary Wygodski from the Tampa Bay area shared their testi-monies. “The things I have seen,” said Wygodski, who had endured the hardships of three different concen-tration camps, “human suffering at the hands of monsters, I feel it is my duty that the evidence be kept alive. Though I have endured the inhu-manity of the concentration camps, I did not allow fear and loss to destroy my dreams. Love and hope have helped me to rebuild my lost life.” Wygodski shared how she had the fortune of meeting her now 97-year-old American army libera-tor, who also lives in Florida. “This was also a Holocaust for several other groups of people,

Yom Hashoah Remembrance at Florida’s Capitol By Dana Edwards, HERC Communications Director

such as political dissidents including clergy, homosexuals, gypsies, people with physical and mental disabilities, and Poles, which brings the number from six to 11 million,” said Rep. Richard Stark, who also spoke at the ceremony. “We should never forget this as well. Never again for humanity.” HERC and the Florida Ho-locaust Museum would like to thank the Governor, CFO Atwater and many other legislators and their staff members for their support and ad-vocacy. Elizabeth Gelman, executive director of The Florida Holocaust Museum, shared that all of the suf-fering and loss that happened during the Holocaust is meaningless if we do not understand what took place and ensure that it will never happen again. “We must equip the next generations with tangible tools to

combat injustice,” Gelman said. “We must challenge and educate those who promote hatred and intoler-ance. The future lies in our hands and the hands of our children and grandchildren.” “As the number of survivors dwindle,” said Rita Blank, HERC vice president, “it becomes more important to honor them and help ensure their stories will not be forgotten. I am proud that HERC has continued this tradition in our Tallahassee community.” HERC continued Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday, April 19 in a community celebration, where an award ceremony recog-nized local winners of HERC’s an-nual Holocaust Essay & Art Contest. The contest winners can be found on HERC’s website: http://www.holo-caustresources.org/category/essay-and-art-contest/.

Rep. RichardStark provides remarks to anaudience of about 80 onYom Hashoahat the Capitol.(Dana Edwards, HERC Communications Director)





Buck Lake Elementary School fourth-grade student David Wygod-ski sat attentively in a shirt and tie at Temple Israel on Sunday, listening to his grandmother’s story of living through one of the greatest tragedies of all time. “I feel it’s my duty to make sure that the evidence be kept alive so the terrible truth will not be forgot-ten or erased,” said Mary Wygodski, a Holocaust survivor and the keynote speaker at Temple Israel’s observance of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Re-membrance Day, which was Thursday. The service honored students who won the Holocaust Education Resource Council’s (HERC) essay and art contests. There were 18 winners, including David Wygodski, who took second place in the elementary essay category. The crowd sat captivated as the Poland-born Mary Wygodski, who now lives in St. Petersburg, told of going through three concentration camps, each one with a new tragedy, un-bearable working conditions and poor food. She was separated from her family as a teenager in 1943. She would never see them again. She was taken to a Latvian work camp by boxcar, then to a death camp in East Russia and finally to an ammunition factory in Germany. On one occasion, she was in line to be put into a gas chamber, but avoided entering when the shower filled up. “Though I have endured the inhumanity of the concentra-

Survivor tells story for Holocaust Remembrance

By Sean Rossman, Tallahassee Democrat

tion camps,” Wygodski said, “I did not allow fear and loss to destroy my dreams. Love and hope have helped me to rebuild my lost life.” Yom HaShoah is a day for people to remember those who suf-fered and died in the Holocaust. School teachers instructing kindergar-ten through 12th grade incorporate the essay and art contests into their Holocaust lessons each year. This year’s

prompt was “liberation.” Students were asked to explore what the liberators knew and what can be learned from them. “They learn so much about life, humanity and about understand-ing,” said Barbara Goldstein, president of HERC, a Tallahassee nonprofit. “It’s so much more important than we real-ize for them.” Having voices like Wygodski’s are important as members of the gen-eration who lived through the Holo-caust become fewer, Goldstein added. “To actually talk to a real survivor, that makes such a difference,”

she said. “It’s so important now to just remember their stories.” Temple Israel Rabbi Jack Rom-berg highlighted recent acts of cultural and religious discrimination and asked the audience to use Yom HaShoah to remember those injustices. “It is not just about the Jewish community. It is not just about our-selves,” he said. “It’s about understand-ing the tragedy that happens if we

allow oppression and prejudice to gain too much of a foothold.”

2015 Holocaust Remembrance Campaign In April and May of 2015, the Holocaust Edu-cation Resource Council (HERC), in partnership with the Demo-crat, is reminding

Tallahassee of the past by bringing pictures into their present lives. Numerous photographic exhibits are located throughout our community that depict significant im-ages of the Holocaust as they appear today. The goal is to teach our young and old that it’s never too late to learn and never too late to change. The photos were taken by Nikki Allen, a former seventh- and eighth-grade social-studies teacher at Fort Braden School. She took the photos in 2008 while attending a Sum-mer Seminar Program on Holocaust Studies in Poland.

Survivor Mary Wygodski speaks to the winners of the HERC Essay & Art Contest. (Tallahassee Democrat)



One way HERC supports Florida teachers and Florida’s Holocaust education mandate is through our Holocaust Teaching Trunks. HERC’s two Holocaust trunks are filled with a variety of books, photographs, primary source documents, and lesson plans. One trunk has materials for high school students while the other trunk has materials for mid-dle school students. These trunks are available for teachers to borrow and bring to their classroom during units of study on the Holocaust. The middle school trunk features class sets of Friedrich

Holocaust Teaching Trunks:Resources for Teachers By Amy Piotrowski, HERC Board Member

and Behind the Secret Window as well as materials from the “Facing History and Ourselves” program. The high school trunk includes memoirs such as The Pianist and The Sunflower, a magazine made by children in Terezin, and photo-graphs seized from their owners at Auschwitz. Starting this fall, HERC plans to add a trunk for elementary classrooms, which will include the books The Devil’s Arithmetic and Number the Stars. As a former middle school and high school English teacher, I know how helpful it is to have instructional resources. HERC’s

Holocaust Teaching Trunks provide resources that support many activities and learning objectives in many different courses. The materials in the trunks can be studied in a history class, enrich the study of a survi-vor’s memoir in an English class, or add to students’ understanding of art and music inspired by the Holocaust. If you would like more information about the Holocaust Teaching Trunks or would like to borrow the trunk for your class, please contact Eileen Lerner at [email protected].

2015 Holocaust Essay & Art

Contest WinnersArt Winners

Elementary SchoolFirst - Anthony Ortiz, FSUSSecond - Mary Lengacher, FSUSThird - Michael Rubin, FSUS

Middle SchoolFirst - Resh Meck, FairviewSecond - Antonio Davis, CobbThird - Sara Wallace, Wakulla Christian

High SchoolFirst - Jackie Golabek, JPIISecond - Rick Bessey, JPIIThird - Jessica Milam, FSUS

Essay WinnersElementary SchoolFirst - Teresa Morgado, CornerstoneSecond - David Wygodski, Buck Lake

Middle SchoolFirst - Skylah Rault, CornerstoneSecond - Amorenna Tillman, CobbThird - Cattie Li, Deerlake

High SchoolFirst - Nicole Buford, MaclaySecond - Chikodi X., Leon County Virtual SchoolThird - Temi Omotsyo, Maclay

Note: This is the only essay contest beginning in elementary school. A total of 184 essays were submitted this year from a variety of schools.

Holocaust Film Series Conclusion

Thank you to the nearly 200 individuals who attended the four-part Holocaust movie series sponsored by HERC, The Tallahassee Film Society, and the Dept. of Education. Join us in spring of 2016 for the next film series! While we have made tentative film decisions, we are open to suggestions. Dates are to be determined.

January 2016“Confessions of a Nazi Spy”

February 2016“The Man I Married”

March 2016“East of Berlin”

April 2016“Man Hunt”

Support HERC on Amazon.com!

Visit this link www.bit.ly/1ALzw3N to sign up.

Amazon will give .5% of your qualifying purchases to HERC.

This is one more way to give HERC funding necessary to

keep our students educated on the

Holocaust.





Holocaust Remembrance Campaign

By Barbara Goldstein, HERC President

While we all know his-tory can repeat itself, we also believe that when confronted with reminders we do have the capacity to learn from past mistakes.

In April and May of 2015, the Holocaust Education Resource Council (HERC) re-minds Tallahassee of the past by bringing pictures into their present lives. Numerous pho-tographic exhibits are located throughout our community that depict significant images of the Holocaust as they appear

today. We hope to teach our young and old that it’s never too late to learn and never too late to change.

The photos were taken by Nikki Allen, a former sev-enth-and eighth-grade social-studies teacher at Fort Braden School. She took the photos in 2008 while attending a Sum-mer Seminar Program on Ho-locaust Studies in Poland.

You can view the photo gallery of the images online at the Tallahassee Democrat: http://on.tdo.com/1GZTqRV.

Raa Middle School Performs Holocaust Remembrance Play

Eight-grade students of Raa Middle School performed the Holo-caust remembrance play, “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” by Celeste Raspan-ti, on May 1. The history and theatre departments worked together on this endeavor. The students performed this one-act play, which is based on a true story, during each period of the school day. Thank you to the teachers and stu-ents who allowed this learning oppor-tunity to happen. HERC hopes to work with you all in the future on this won-derful community education project.

2015-2016 Book Club

Sept. 17: “What We Knew” by Eric Johnson

Oct. 15: “Resistance of the Heart” by Nathan Stoltzfus

Nov. 19: “In Kindling Flame” by Linda Atkinson

Jan. 21: “Ghetto Diary” by Janusz Korczac

Feb. 18: “The Boy On The Wooden Box” by Leon Leyson

Mar. 17: “Thread of Grace” by Mary Russell

Dana Edwards: What is one of your most memorable experiences work-ing with HERC? Steve Uhlfelder: When my cousin, a survivor, came to speak at the awards’ ceremony. He also spoke at several local high schools about his experiences enduring four years of concentration camps.

D.E.: What do you wish other people knew about HERC? S.U.: HERC sets a very high stan-dard in educating students and teachers about the Holocaust. They are very well respected in the com-munity and their work is greatly appreciated by the education com-munity. The organization would not be what it is today without Barbara Goldstein and Rita Blank.

D.E.: Why do you support HERC? S.U.: I think it is important to never forget what happened to the Jewish people and other victims, and we must be diligent to make sure his-tory never repeats itself. I also do it in memory of my family members who were unfortu-nate victims of the Holocaust.

D.E.: I understand you were integral in starting HERC’s Essay Contest. Could you tell me how you became involved, and what it means to the community?

S.U.: I helped start and lead the Ho-locaust writing program at my for-mer law firm (Holland and Knight). I saw how wonderful the program was and wanted to help Barbara and Rita with their local efforts. It means each year hundreds of young people will learn about this tragic period of world history and help keep the memories and lessons.

D.E.: Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust sur-vivor, said, “Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.” Can you tell me why remembering the Holocaust is important to you? S.U.: My family was tremendously impacted by the Holocaust. My paternal grandparents were killed in a camp. My father was lucky to

escape, but his sister and her family endured four years in many differ-ent horrific camps. Her husband was killed. The lessons of the Holocaust must be told to every new genera-tion. While the survivors, like my cousins, are still alive they must tell their stories to as many people as possible.

D.E.: Who is your role model, and why? S.U.: Governor LeRoy Collins. He had the courage to help end segrega-tion during a very difficult period. He was willing to sacrifice his politi-cal future for a just cause. I was for-tunate to be able to call him a close friend. He greatly influenced me.

D.E.: Tell me about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career. S.U.: I believe chairing the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board was the most important position I held. It allowed me to become engaged with some of the brightest and most talented people in the world. How-ever, nothing beats being a father and having two wonderful children and five precious grandchildren.

D.E.: If you could have dinner with five famous people from history, who would they be? S.U.: Martin Luther King Jr, Win-ston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, and Theodore Roosevelt.

D.E.: What is your personal motto? S.U.: Our prime purpose in this life is to help others, and if we can’t help them, at least don’t do them any harm. You can never do too much for others in need.

HERC Featured Member of the

Month

Steve UhlfelderAttorney



Martha BillingsPhil and Rita Blank

Donna CallawayArt and Elaine Cooper

Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte and Patsy PalmerLinda Davey

Paul and Mary Ann DeitchmanDana Edwards

Morris and Terri FishmanSteven Friedlander

Shari GewanterMitchell and Jacque Gilberg

Barbara GoldsteinSusan HaddixJeff HelicherRoberta HillSol Hirsch

Rick and Linda HysonMarshall and Susan Kapp

Paula KigerEileen Lerner

John Lutz

2015 Membership

David and Mona MarkellBill and Jill Mattox

Michael and Julie McBridePaul Mitchell

David McNaughtonRoger Peace

Eva PeltVirginia PerkinsAmy PiotrowskiRobyn RachinKathy Reeves

Eleanore Rosenberg and Lawrence Sack

John and Monica RosnerMyrnalee Smith Rosinsky

Ron and Jane SchagrinJerry and Susan SternsteinSt. John’s Episcopal Church

Tallahassee Jewish FederationBarry and Tiffanie Webster

Tasha WeinsteinDaniela Wellner

Judge James Wolf



HERC 2015 Membership Form

Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________________________________

Home Phone: ___________________ Cell Phone: __________________ Email: _________________________

I am interested in helping one or more of the following committees:

___________ Book Club _____________ Holocaust Remembrance

___________ Essay and Art Contest _____________ Community Outreach

___________ Teacher Workshop _____________ Membership

Membership Enables You To:• Attend programs, films, and scholars’ lectures – at reduced rates or no charge• Receive notice of ongoing programs, updates on current genocidal situations, and invitations to special events• Borrow from our extensive collection of books, media, research files and curricula on Holocaust, geno-cide & human rights issues• Affirm your personal commitment to our mission and help us reach our goal

HERC is making a difference in our community, but we cannot continue to do so without your support. We urge you to join us at whatever membership level is most comfortable for you.

HERC Offers Various Levels of Membership:Please select a membership level.

______ $36 (Chai- Life) This membership level purchases a DVD, book or periodical for our school resources

______ $100 (Shalom- Peace) This membership level provides a scholarship for a student with the annual essay and art contest

______ $250 (B’racha-Blessing) This membership level buys a set of books for a school classroom

______ $500 (Zichron-Remembrance) This membership level helps to sponsor a speaker for annual teacher training workshop

Please Send Checks To:Holocaust Education Resource Council

P.O. Box 16282 Tallahassee, FL. 32317

Membership can also be purchased online at: www.holocaustresources.org.

H ER C 1 0Holocaust Education Resource Council | P.O. Box 16282 Tall., FL 32317 | holocaustresources.org


Newsletter Holocaust Education Resource Council€¦ · Tasha Weinstein Dear HERC Friends, Volunteers are a very important part of HERC. I encourage you to consider joining our board

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