The Florida Holocaust Museum will be opening our doors on Saturday, June 18th in honor of the Pulse shooting victims and their families. All admission fees collected that day will be donated to the Pulse Victims Fund. In addition, there will be a public vigil at 10:00 a.m. on the front steps of The FHM.
In addition, we will be hosting a special one-day exhibition in remembrance of the Orlando victims that will feature photos and share their individual stories.The FHM translates the statistics of the Holocaust and other genocides and atrocities into reality by sharing authentic individual stories every day. We invite Museum visitors to remember these victims with handwritten letters and by spending time in the Harvey Hertz Prayer and Meditation Room.
One of the victims, Christopher Leinonen, has a special connection to the Museum. Christopher was in our inaugural group of Anne Frank Humanitarian Award recipients in 2002. Christopher’s award nomination, written by his high school’s guidance counselor describes the way Christopher saw and was moved to action by the everyday struggles of gay and lesbian teenagers; struggles that left many feeling hopeless and silenced, exemplified at the time by a strikingly high suicide rate. Christopher had the presence of mind and personal leadership to start a chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance at Seminole High School, working with administrators and students to make the GSA a positive presence in the school.
All of the suffering and loss is meaningless if we do not challenge and educate those who promote hatred and intolerance. We teach Holocaust Education and Genocide and Human Rights Awareness to build public awareness about current and past genocides. Genocide is carried out by humans who choose to hate fellow humans and education is vital in ensuring that visitors learn to adapt the lessons of the Holocaust into their own lives by embracing different opinions and world views and the need for mutual respect among individual human beings as part of a multifarious, open-minded, democratic society.
The vision of The FHM is a future in which peace and harmony are a reality in our neighborhoods, in our nation and in our world.
For additional event information, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/147561465654693/