May 2012 President’s Message

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Dear Friends,

On April 19, over 150 people attended the Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Hashoah, Service. The Greater Tallahassee community was invited to honor the Survivors and remember the millions of victims of the Holocaust. Ironically, in the week that followed this community uniting event, police at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida were called to investigate an alarming incident. A swastika was found on a car after an awards banquet dinner held at Hillel, the Jewish Student Organization. (Boca Raton is also home to thousands of Holocaust Survivors.) This was a sign that despite the positive efforts of so many, anti-Semitism still continues in communities and on campuses everywhere. Education to combat prejudice and discrimination and promote tolerance and appreciation of diversity is still sorely needed. Continue reading →

Recommended Reading: The End of the Holocaust By Alvin H. Rosenfeld

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In this provocative work, Alvin H. Rosenfeld contends that the proliferation of books, films, television programs, museums and public commemorations related to the Holocaust has, perversely, brought about a diminution of its meaning and a denigration of its memory.

Investigating a wide range of events and cultural phenomena, such as Ronald Reagan’s 1985 visit to the German cemetery at Bitburg, the distortions of Anne Frank’s story, and the ways in which the Holocaust has been depicted by such artists and filmmakers as Judy Chicago and Steven Spielberg, Rosenfeld charts the cultural forces that have minimized the Holocaust in popular perceptions. He contrasts these with sobering representations by Holocaust witnesses such as Jean Améry, Primo Levi, Elie Wiesel, and Imre Kertész.

The book concludes with a powerful warning about the possible consequences of “the end of the Holocaust” in public consciousness.