LOCATED AT NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY - ALVIN SHERMAN LIBRARY
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it - George Santayana.
As decades pass since the Holocaust, it is critical that we, as humanity, maintain the historical record of the largest genocide in world history and to honor those who perished, while preserving the memories of those who lived through it. “We must strive to provide opportunities for our current generation and those of tomorrow to reflect on the horrific events of the Holocaust and the lessons to be learned from it,” said Craig Weiner, President of the Holocaust Learning and Education Fund, Inc. (www.Holocausteducationfund.com).
For Craig and Barbara Weiner, their dream of creating a space in South Florida dedicated to these goals led them to the Nova Southeastern University Alvin Sherman Library where Craig is a member of NSU’s Ambassadors Board.
Barbara and Craig co-founded the nonprofit Holocaust Learning and Education Fund, Inc. (HLEF) in 2013 to encourage the expansion of Holocaust education in the United States. The website states that “students must be encouraged to have the bravery and the courage to follow their moral conscience in STANDING UP when they witness injustice and see things happening that they absolutely know are wrong, including, but not limited to, bullying […] which is often a result of racism, anti-Semitism, or bigotry. […] We strive to show our nation’s youth what history has proven happens from these ‘cancers’ that continue to permeate our society, and in this regard we teach young people how critically important it is for them to learn the lessons of the Holocaust, and to understand how relevant these lessons are in making their daily life choices.”
Beginning in 2014, HLEF partnered with NSU to host the annual Holocaust Reflection Contest, a statewide initiative enhancing Holocaust education for middle and high school students. Participating students study the testimonials of Holocaust survivors; reflect on what they’ve learned; then submit original writing, art, and film projects expressing how those lessons apply to their own lives. HLEF awarded the contest’s 2014 and 2015 winning students, their teachers, and one parent per student an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and meet with national and international dignitaries.
“Barbara and I could not be happier, nor more honored than to be a partner with this outstanding university. NSU has shown unhesitating and unrivaled leadership in extending itself to, and for, the betterment of our community. NSU is a true leader in education; the growth at this university in so many ways is simply incredible, and the Alvin Sherman Library will be a major focal point of the university and will be here for the very long term. With that in mind, we could not have found a better partner to create this amazing project with. The Holocaust Museum of South Florida is a wonderful resource for our students and the community to enjoy and learn from for many, many years.”
This project has been funded and endowed in perpetuity by the Craig and Barbara Weiner family and not by HLEF whose funds are used specifically for educational programs. HLEF may acquire certain artifacts of the period which may be loaned from time to time to this exhibit for educational purposes only.
The facility is located on the second floor of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library and consists of three main rooms : (A) A computer room with several flat screen computers equipped with wireless headphones on which students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public will have access to several hundred survivor testimonials, hundreds of original artifacts on permanent exhibit, various important films dealing with this subject matter, a Holocaust encyclopedia, as well as wall maps outlining the locations of the larger concentration camps illustrating both labor camps as well as extermination camps, and (B) a large reading and resource room which will contain comfortable seating and will include numerous US newspapers from the 1930's and 40's for students, faculty, staff and the general public to review, a wall mounted screen showing continuous film footage from that era including home video taken during that time, a number of bookcases complete with research material, propaganda material promulgated by the Nazis, a large number of wall mounted images from the period including prisoner drawings, as well as display cases containing original artifacts from Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Majdanek, Stutthof, Dachau and other camps, and (C) the latest technology of Holocaust education - “Dimensions in Testimony - Educational System” created by the USC Shoah Foundation which permits students and visitors to this Center to interact with, and ask questions of a Holocaust survivor virtually forever, thus keeping this education alive in perpetuity.
The “Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum of South Florida” on the library’s second floor is open during all library hours 7 days a week. This facility will offer NSU students and the general public a place to learn about, and to contemplate the atrocities that result from prejudice, intolerance and hate.
As decades pass since the Holocaust, it is critical that we, as humanity, maintain the historical record of the largest genocide in world history and to honor those who perished, while preserving the memories of those who lived through it. “We must strive to provide opportunities for our current generation and those of tomorrow to reflect on the horrific events of the Holocaust and the lessons to be learned from it,” said Craig Weiner, President of the Holocaust Learning and Education Fund, Inc. (www.Holocausteducationfund.com).
For Craig and Barbara Weiner, their dream of creating a space in South Florida dedicated to these goals led them to the Nova Southeastern University Alvin Sherman Library where Craig is a member of NSU’s Ambassadors Board.
Barbara and Craig co-founded the nonprofit Holocaust Learning and Education Fund, Inc. (HLEF) in 2013 to encourage the expansion of Holocaust education in the United States. The website states that “students must be encouraged to have the bravery and the courage to follow their moral conscience in STANDING UP when they witness injustice and see things happening that they absolutely know are wrong, including, but not limited to, bullying […] which is often a result of racism, anti-Semitism, or bigotry. […] We strive to show our nation’s youth what history has proven happens from these ‘cancers’ that continue to permeate our society, and in this regard we teach young people how critically important it is for them to learn the lessons of the Holocaust, and to understand how relevant these lessons are in making their daily life choices.”
Beginning in 2014, HLEF partnered with NSU to host the annual Holocaust Reflection Contest, a statewide initiative enhancing Holocaust education for middle and high school students. Participating students study the testimonials of Holocaust survivors; reflect on what they’ve learned; then submit original writing, art, and film projects expressing how those lessons apply to their own lives. HLEF awarded the contest’s 2014 and 2015 winning students, their teachers, and one parent per student an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and meet with national and international dignitaries.
“Barbara and I could not be happier, nor more honored than to be a partner with this outstanding university. NSU has shown unhesitating and unrivaled leadership in extending itself to, and for, the betterment of our community. NSU is a true leader in education; the growth at this university in so many ways is simply incredible, and the Alvin Sherman Library will be a major focal point of the university and will be here for the very long term. With that in mind, we could not have found a better partner to create this amazing project with. The Holocaust Museum of South Florida is a wonderful resource for our students and the community to enjoy and learn from for many, many years.”
This project has been funded and endowed in perpetuity by the Craig and Barbara Weiner family and not by HLEF whose funds are used specifically for educational programs. HLEF may acquire certain artifacts of the period which may be loaned from time to time to this exhibit for educational purposes only.
The facility is located on the second floor of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library and consists of three main rooms : (A) A computer room with several flat screen computers equipped with wireless headphones on which students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public will have access to several hundred survivor testimonials, hundreds of original artifacts on permanent exhibit, various important films dealing with this subject matter, a Holocaust encyclopedia, as well as wall maps outlining the locations of the larger concentration camps illustrating both labor camps as well as extermination camps, and (B) a large reading and resource room which will contain comfortable seating and will include numerous US newspapers from the 1930's and 40's for students, faculty, staff and the general public to review, a wall mounted screen showing continuous film footage from that era including home video taken during that time, a number of bookcases complete with research material, propaganda material promulgated by the Nazis, a large number of wall mounted images from the period including prisoner drawings, as well as display cases containing original artifacts from Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Majdanek, Stutthof, Dachau and other camps, and (C) the latest technology of Holocaust education - “Dimensions in Testimony - Educational System” created by the USC Shoah Foundation which permits students and visitors to this Center to interact with, and ask questions of a Holocaust survivor virtually forever, thus keeping this education alive in perpetuity.
The “Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum of South Florida” on the library’s second floor is open during all library hours 7 days a week. This facility will offer NSU students and the general public a place to learn about, and to contemplate the atrocities that result from prejudice, intolerance and hate.