MEDIA CONTACT: Terri Berns

561-297-1164, tberns@fau.edu

FAU Libraries Presents “The Kindertransport Journey: Memory Into History” Exhibition, Film Screening, and Events on the Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide

Educational Exhibition Traces the Rescue Operation from the German Reich of 10,000 Children of Northern Europe to Britain in 1938

Boca Raton, Fl (March 24, 2006) – Florida Atlantic University Libraries and the Center for the Holocaust and Human Rights Education presents “The Kindertransport Journey: Memory in History,” an exhibition produced by Kindertransportee Robert Sugar, including seventeen photographic panels with text of the rescue operation from the German Reich of 10,000 unaccompanied children out of Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland to Britain in 1938.  The collection will be on display from Saturday, April 1 through Sunday, April 30 in the lobby of the Wimberly Library on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.  It is free and open to the public; call for hours.

In commemoration of the Holocaust and remembrance of millions of lives lost to genocide and mass murders, FAU Libraries presents this exhibition and an associated series of events in April, including a film screening, teachers’ workshop, panel discussion, reception, and interactive display with featured speakers discussing genocide then and now.

Sugar’s exhibition panels trace the epic journey from 1938 to the present of the lives of  thousands of children (mostly Jews, but not all) of ‘Kindertransport,’ a program initiated by Jews of Britain and aided by Quakers and other non-Jewish refugee organization.  Most of the parents who sent these children to safety perished in the Holocaust.  A majority of the children settled in Britain, while others re-emigrated to Israel, the Americas and elsewhere, scattering over the world.   

In January 1939, when he was eight, Sugar left Vienna on a Kindertransport, spending the next nine years on the Millisle refugee farm in Northern Ireland.  A photo taken by Sugar in 1944 is included in the exhibition.  Sugar has lived in New York since 1948, and has written and designed extensive material on Jewish history.  He is a member of the executive board of The Kindertransport Association, Inc. (KTA).

The Academy Award winning documentary film “Into the Arms of Strangers,” based on the events of Kindertransport, will be shown on Tuesday, April 4 at 4:30 p.m. in the University Center, Live Oak Pavilion, Room D, followed by a discussion with Kindertransportees, Otto Decker and Herda Drucker of  KTA Florida.

“Never Again? Genocide from the Holocaust to Darfur” is the topic of a series of activities offered on Thursday, April 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., including a continuous screening of videos, viewing and comments on relevant posters, as well as interaction with staff discussing what can be done about genocide. 

"People do not generally seem to learn much from history, and hence they repeat the mistakes and horrendous behavior of the past over and over again; however, the fact remains that they could learn a lot from past events if they tried. As educators, it is important to examine this topic and its relevance to what is happening in the world today,” said Dr. William Miller, director of FAU Libraries.

            Featured guest speaker on Thursday, April 20 at 12:15 will be Assistant Professor in Africana Studies Edward Kissi, Ph.D., from the University of South Florida who will speak on “Ethnic Conflicts and Genocide in Post-Colonial Africa: The Case of Darfur, Sudan.” He will explore the major characteristics of ethnic conflicts in contemporary Africa and examine the concept of genocide as distinguished from mass murder, about political repression, war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Kissi will discuss how these concepts and crimes are defined in international law and in social science literature, and the relationship between ethnic conflict and genocide, and what is happening in the Sudan today.

            “Certainly, what is happening in the Sudan is more than an ‘ethnic conflict,’” said Kissi.  “It raises intriguing questions about the legal definition and the moral meaning of genocide and the responsibilities of ‘states’ and ‘non-state armed groups’ in international human rights law. There will be much to discuss.  I look forward to the opportunity to think these issues aloud with the FAU Community.”

            On Monday, April 24, The Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education is sponsoring a workshop, “Suitcase Stories: Jewish Children and the Kindertransport,” for Palm Beach County teachers, fulfilling the state mandate for Holocaust education in all Florida schools.  According to Center Director Dr. Rose Gatens, “We hope that learning about the child refugees of the Holocaust will help our teachers better understand the suffering and sorrow of the refugees in their class rooms today.”

            The final event on Tuesday, April 25 at 3 p.m. titled “Yom HaShoah: Memories of the Kindertransport” features video clips of the Kindertransport and a panel presentation by Kindertransportees Rella Adler, Herda Drucker, Gertrude Graber and Anita Hoffer, president of the Florida Kindertransport Association.  The discussion will focus on Yom HaShoah, translated ‘Holocaust Day,’ a day set aside to remember the Holocaust and to honor the memory of those who perished.  ‘Shoah,’ which means catastrophe or utter destruction in Hebrew, reflects the horror of the atrocities that were committed against the Jewish people, and of the destruction of ‘Kristallnacht,’ the night that 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized. 

            All events other than the teachers’ workshop are free and open to the public.  For additional information or to RSVP, call the library hotline at 561-297-6245.

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