The Holocaust Museum Celebrates 20th Anniversary

The Holocaust Museum & Janet G. and Harvey D. Cohen Education Center in Naples will celebrate its 20th anniversary in November 2021! What a journey it has been, from the founding inspiration of the “Out of the Ashes” Golden Gate Middle School project created by teachers David Bell and Michelle Lee, to the creation, 2019 opening and expansion of the multi award-winning new Museum.

Education Mission

The Museum’s mission is to teach the lessons of the Holocaust to inspire action against bigotry, hatred and violence. Since its founding, over 175,000 Southwest Florida students, grades K-12 through college/university, have been impacted by the Museum’s education programs. Students and visitors are encouraged to not only reflect on the importance of respect for others, but to commit to do the right thing by taking action to stand up for others in need.

The education department’s ageappropriate programming, conducted on campus pre-COVID-19, is now available on the Museum’s website.

Museum Field Trips continue to be available for small student groups accompanied by teachers and chaperones.

The Holocaust education workshops for teachers are now available on the Museum’s website and YouTube channel as a year-long monthly series. This provides teachers with lesson plans, student activities and videos, which can be downloaded at their convenience. The workshops are funded through a generous legacy gift of the Merrill Kuller Educator Series.

New Location and Hours

The Museum’s new location is 975 Imperial Golf Course Blvd., Suite 108, Naples, FL 34110.

The museum’s current hours are 1 – 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. It is closed Monday, Tuesday, Friday and major U.S. Holidays. Go to www.HMCEC.org for details.

COVID-19 Precautions

The Museum complies with all CDC mandated COVID-19 safety precautions, including social distancing, frequent sanitizing of commonly touched surfaces, hand sanitizing stations, the wearing of masks and timed-entry ticketing. The pre-purchase of timedentry tickets on the Museum’s website is available and suggested. Self-guided audio tours and Museum maps are available at no charge.

Special Tour Programs

Special tours of the Museum are now available by appointment. These include school field trips, private group tours, docent-led small group public tours, and the “Perfectly Paradise Authentic Experience Tour,” created in conjunction with the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Visitor Bureau. More information is available on the website’s “Education” and “Visit” tab sections or via e-mail at Sam@HMCEC.org (for school field trips), David@HMCEC. org (for non-school tours) and Info@ HMCEC.org (for general information).

Museum Exhibits

Three major exhibits will rotate on display in the Estelle and Stuart Price Gallery in 2021. The first, “Girl Power! How Young Women Impacted the Holocaust and Beyond,” will celebrate women from a variety of backgrounds and time periods for their courage to act against evil despite the personal cost of doing so. Included will be women from the Holocaust, civil rights and contemporary eras. Girl Power will run from January 5 through May 23.

The next major exhibit will feature the Museum’s Ken Regele World War II photography collection. The military photographer generously donated film of photos he had taken as well as film he found during the war. The comprehensive exhibit will profile images from his collection, beginning with the D-Day invasion through the post-war Nuremburg Trials. Among the subjects to be included will be life behind the front lines, military leaders, USO celebrities, and images from captured enemy film. The exhibit will run from June 6 through late October.

The final exhibit of 2021, “Vedem Underground,” is a special traveling exhibit from the Vedem Foundation. Vedem was a long-running underground magazine created by teenagers and young men documenting their lives in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. The exhibit will begin in November and run through the end of the year.

Special virtual events are planned to accompany these exhibits. More information will be available on the Museum’s website, www.HMCEC.org.

2021 Events and Programs

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Museum’s programs are now held via Zoom. In 2021, programs will explore the theme of “Heroes, Heroines and Helpers.” Presented are the stories of individuals and groups, whose brave actions against bigotry, hatred and violence continue to provide important lessons and inspire us today. Some of the programs are being jointly offered with GenShoah of SWFL.

The periodically scheduled “Discussions with Docents” Zoom programs and Zoom film and book discussions with special guests are very well attended, with people joining from their homes across the U.S. Participants are encouraged to engage in the lively Q&A sessions.

Most programs are free to attend, with an RSVP required to receive the Zoom links. To receive timely information on these programs, sign up for the Museum’s monthly newsletter and program emails via the link provided on the website. In addition to the to-bescheduled “Discussions with Docents” and film/book Zoom presentations, among other upcoming virtual programs, are:

• Wednesday, Jan. 27 – International Holocaust Remembrance Day – Zoom program with survivors’ tribute, music from the Terezin Music Foundation, unveiling of Liberation Wall solar calendar in the Rissa and Richard Grossman Reflection Room.

• Wednesday, Feb. 24 – Program about Hidden Children

• Early March – Triumph 2021 with special guest speaker

• March date TBD – Discussion of film “Inside Hana’s Suitcase”

• Sunday, April 11– Annual Yom HaShoah Community Commemoration

Additional details on the programs can be found on the Museum’s website, or will be forthcoming, as the program date gets nearer.

For more information, visit www.HMCEC.org or call the Museum at 239-263-9200.