At the Museum

Susan Suarez, President & CEO

January was a very busy month at the Museum for field trips and oncampus school programs. In addition to providing student programs at several local middle and high schools, we set up two pop-up museums at other schools. In addition, we are happy to announce that the Boxcar Exhibit is available to travel to community locations once again! For more information on availability and to schedule a Boxcar, please contact Director of Operations/Education Specialist Sam Parish at Sam@HMCEC.org.

Another Museum founder passes away

We send our condolences to the family of Museum co-founder Charles Dauray, who passed away in December. Charles Dauray was one of the community leaders who helped start our Museum and he served for many years as a Board Member. Sadly, he was the second co-founder lost recently as Godfrey Levy passed away in November.

Upcoming programming

On Wednesday, Feb. 23 and Wednesday, March 2, 5 p.m. at the Museum, docent Stuart Mest, M.D. will present a twopart presentation, “Eugenics, Experiments, Ethics: Nazi Germany, Japan and the U.S.”

Dr. Mest developed this series after many years of research on the subject. Part 1 will feature the Physicians Trial at Nuremberg, a review of the experiments performed by Nazi physicians in the concentration camps, the Nuremberg code and informed consent discussion.

Part 2 will cover the Japanese physician experiments on prisoners, the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, U.S. medical experiments involving humans around WWII, and an overview of the Eugenics Movement.

Cost is $40 for the series. Please register on our website. These presentations will be repeated — Part 1 on Wednesday, March 9 at 5 p.m. and Part 2 on Wednesday, March 16 at 5 p.m., both at the Museum.

Two previously scheduled February events have been postponed due to COVID concerns: Ellaine Rosen’s five-part lecture series “Nazi Looted Art — Unfinished Business” and the “Never Again” Brunch honoring Jack Nortman, cosponsored by the Museum and the Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida. Additional information on rescheduled dates will be shared when available.

Triumph 2022

We invite you to join us Thursday, March 3, 2022, for our Triumph 2022 annual fundraising event. Don’t miss this opportunity to help us honor a remarkable “Upstander” who chose to speak up, stay and protect innocent civilians during the worst genocide since the Holocaust.

Guest Speaker, Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) The Honorable Roméo A. Dallaire, is the internationally known advocate for human rights. General Dallaire founded the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security. The mission of this global partnership is to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in violence.

In 1994, General Dallaire was stationed in Rwanda as the Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Missions. He witnessed the country’s escalating ethnic violence and warned the international community of the great danger this posed. Yet, instead of providing him with additional forces to help stem the conflict, he was ordered to withdraw his troops. General Dallaire refused to leave, remaining in Rwanda along with a small contingent of Ghanaian and Tunisian soldiers and military observers. They heroically stayed, as the horrors of the Rwandan genocide unfolded, to protect the people who sought refuge with U.N. troops.

General Dallaire’s actions during this genocide have been well documented in films and books, including his own award-winning account, “Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.” In 2014, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum bestowed the Elie Wiesel Award on General Dallaire in recognition of his heroic efforts to prevent the Rwandan genocide.

General Romeo Dallaire

The evening event will be held at the Arthrex One Conference Center in Naples and feature a reception from 5:30 to 6 p.m., with the dinner and program from 6 to 8 p.m. Triumph 2022 tickets, event sponsorship packages and program advertising information are available at www.HMCEC.org or by contacting Tim@HMCEC.org.

As we continue our 20th anniversary year, we look forward to bringing you more interesting programs, both in person and on Zoom. Stay safe!