The Importance of Remembrance

Born out of a Golden Gate Middle School class project in the late nineties, the Holocaust Museum of Naples opened in its original location in 2001. Ten years later, I wrote an article about the Museum in the September/October 2011 issue of Ft. Myers magazine. Once again, I am honored to share an update on the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center, now in its 20th anniversary year and happily residing in a beautiful, much larger space. Upon entering the Museum’s new home on US 41 in North Naples, one is welcomed by a giant photo mosaic of Anne Frank created by artist Robert Silvers. Before her family went into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam and she started her famous diary, the striking picture is a close-up of a young girl with a gentle smile. Step closer, and the thousands of miniature Holocaust and WWII black and white photos that comprise the work come into view. It’s a collection of concentration camp prisoners, posters, documents, and more. Survivors who live (or enjoyed their last days) in southwest Florida, like Museum co-founder Lorie Mayer and the late legendary vocal talent (and camp liberator) Peter Thomas, are among them in pictures taken by Naples photographer Erik Kellar. Above the mosaic is a quote from Anne’s journal, “How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world.” The Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center in Naples are doing their part to help us never forget the atrocities inflicted upon six million Jews and countless others by the Nazi regime and their Japanese counterparts.

by Julie Clay As the Museum’s collection of donated artifacts grew over the years, the hunt began for a new location. Finally, in September 2019, the Museum opened its doors to a beautifully designed facility imagined by architect David Corban. Corban was recently honored for his efforts with an award from the American Institute of Architects Florida. Executive Director and CEO Susan Suarez, hired just in time to kick off the capital campaign in 2017, recalls all the crazy around the recent move. “We had to design everything. We had a very short window. Our lease was going to run out in the old space,” she says. “Luckily, we had a great team putting everything together with our architect, exhibit design company and PBS, our construction company.” The community was also excited about the new location; the grand opening in November 2019 drew close to 1000 excited participants. Then, between school field trips and visits from the public, the Museum was busy and booked solid. Susan remembers it was hectic but exciting, with programs connecting local survivors and children of survivors with guests to share their stories. Stuart Mest, whose father lived in the Warsaw Ghetto, and several of the war’s ‘hidden children’ were docents conducting tours. The move was nothing but success. Then Covid hit. Like the rest of the world, the Holocaust Museum closed down in March 2020. They were able to continue the outreach, however, with everyone’s favorite Covid friend. “Our Zoom programs were extremely well attended,” Susan expresses. “We had participation from people who couldn’t come to our programs in the past, and people Zooming

Executive Director, Susan Suarez says that reopening after having to close because of the pandemic, the initial handful of people that started trickling in to the museum has once again become a steady stream, regulated with timed tickets.

in from all over the country. We have done virtual tours of our special exhibits and survivor talks on Zoom.” Based on these successes, the Museum plans to continue doing programs on Zoom specifically for those who don’t live locally. They reopened this past June 9, thoroughly sanitized and prepared with PPE equipment. Susan says that the initial handful of people that started trickling in have once again become a steady stream, regulated with timed tickets.

Now operating comfortably in 6,000 square feet, the Museum houses over 1,000 artifacts, documents, and photographs, displayed in chronological order throughout the three main galleries.

Galleries One and Two are shrouded in muted light, representing the dark days of Hitler’s rise to power and the war itself. (The dim light also helps to protect the artifacts on display.) Gallery One chronicles the rising wave of anti-semitism, building to Kristallnacht on November 9 & 10, 1938, when Nazi repression of German Jews officially turned violent. Many of the larger informational wall pieces are blown up from the original smaller ones jockeying for space in the Museum’s first home. A survivors sculpture features the names of Naples area people who have volunteered or are still volunteering for the Museum. There is also an illuminated red circle on the floor representing barbed wire. Gallery Three is brightly lit and aptly named ‘Return to Life.’ A list of Displaced Persons is featured, a piece the Museum couldn’t correctly display in the original location.

Between World War II’s end in 1945 and 1952, over 250,000 liberated prisoners, now called Displaced Persons, rebuilt their lives in former concentration camps and urban centers in Germany, Austria, and Italy before moving in large part to the United States and a section of Palestine which eventually became the state of Israel in 1948.

Then there’s the boxcar. In 2007, Holocaust Museum board member Emeritus Jack Nortman acquired an authentic 10-ton Holocaust-era railway car as a traveling exhibit to schools and community locations. Approximately 100,000 people have been impacted by it so far from its visits to schools, museums, universities, public libraries, synagogues, and more. Grounded for Covid, the boxcar will be traveling once again to a six-county area in southwest Florida. Back inside the Museum, past the three galleries, visitors can pause in the Reflection Room, a quiet, soothing place bathed in natural light where one can gather their thoughts on all that they’ve just taken in. On the wall, the liberation dates of all the concentration camps are displayed in chronological order. Susan explains that the room has been specially designed as a ‘solar calendar’ to light up a particular date at solar noon, which changes daily. Across from the Reflection Room is the Declaration of Human Rights wall; there are 30 rights in all. As much room as the Holocaust Museum gained with the move; plans are in place to purchase another 3,600 sq. ft of space next door. Susan gives us a glimpse, “We’ll have permanent exhibits in the current special exhibit area to focus on modern genocides and human rights. The Special Exhibit gallery will be in the new space and larger.” She also hints at additional ‘wow factor’ type use for this space. A capital campaign is in the works (complete with naming rights) to cover the cost. After the main gallery tour, we then visited the archives, a specially designed room with its own air-conditioning unit and humidity settings for optimal storage care of the items within. Gems like a copy of Susan Rubin’s book, Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto, donated by illustrator Bill Farnsworth, are amoung a vast assortment of carefully stored and notated artifacts, both large and small. Susan indicates they rotate artifacts, showing different items every six months. Anyone can have the privilege to see the Museum archives, courtesy of the Authentic Experience Tour. Developed in conjunction with the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau, this unique tour is conducted in two parts. Groups of up to 15 people are taken through the Museum and into the archives to see additional items donated by local Holocaust survivors, their families, and concentration camp liberators. Museum outreach continues in October with a return to the Holocaust-themed Movies That Matter series. Susan explains that this year will probably be a mix of movies on Zoom, like in 2020, and those shown at the Paragon Pavilion theater in Naples. The Museum will also be holding a special 20th-anniversary celebration, entitled ‘The Luncheon,’ on December 3 at the beautiful Arthrex One headquarters building in Naples. The festivities will include a short play called

Holocaust Museum Remember: The Story of Abe Price. A Holocaust and Cohen Education Center survivor and Museum co-founder, Mr. Price 975 Imperial Golf Course Blvd. lived a courageous life of capture, escape, loss, suite 108 (facing US 41) love, and triumph. The play is produced by North Naples Gulfshore Playhouse founding and producing Artistic Director Kristen Coury and was written by Broadway’s Jeffrey Binder (Zazou in Lion King and Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins). The Holocaust Museum and Cohen Education Center helps assure that we never forget the horrors and tragedies of the holocaust, as well as the providing the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate the triumphs and lives of the incredible survivors. •