Are you a child of Holocausat survivors?

We want you

By Ida Margolis

You have surely seen the famous Army recruiting poster with the Uncle Sam character pointing and stating, “I want you for the U.S. Army.” Well, GenShoah SWFL does not have a colorful recruiting poster, but we do have a plea and that is if you are a child of Holocaust survivors and live or visit Southwest Florida, we want you. We want to get to know you and ask you to get to know other children of survivors in the area. We want you to contact us at Genshoahswfl@hmcec.org. Let us know how to contact you and welcome you to this group of second generation, or 2Gs, or Generations of the Shoah.

This group, which is an affinity group of the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center, has been meeting for more than 10 years. In addition to meeting, the group has sponsored speakers and films, a variety of programs and has partnered with organizations to promote and publicize important events.

After a post-pandemic hiatus, the group was contacted to determine who was willing to reactivate GenShoah SWFL. On Aug. 14, the subgroup held its first meeting on Zoom, led by Shelley Lieb. If you expressed an interest and did not receive information, contact Shelley Lieb at liebro@gmail.com.

After reviewing the mission of Gen- Shoah SWFL — promotion of Holocaust education and human rights, preservation of the history and memory of the Holocaust, connection of the 2nd and 3rd generations to one another and support of the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center — participants shared ideas for ways in which GenShoah SWFL could fulfill the mission. Many exciting ideas were discussed for future programs, meeting topics and special projects as well as meetings specifically for genealogy and Yiddish.

The group felt it is very important to continue to collect stories by 2Gs about their parents, and to be prepared to tell their parent’s stories as well as stay involved with relevant current issues. Fifteen narratives of parents’ Holocaust experiences, written by 2Gs, are already posted on the Museum website, www.HMCEC.org.

Numerous programs are planned that we expect to be of interest to 2Gs. These include:

• The human rights films of Movies That Matter on Oct. 19, Nov. 2 and Nov. 9

• Kristallnacht commemoration on Nov. 6

• A GenShoah Potluck Dinner on Dec. 19

For more information, contact Shelley at liebro@gmail.com or genshoahswfl@ hmcec.org. And remember, we want you.

L’Shanah Tovah v’G’mar Hatimah Tovah.