William Pachner - Imagined Landscapes

Showing February 9 – June 23, 2013

Artist William Pachner was born in Moravia.  Trained as an illustrator, he eventually left Europe for the United States in 1939.  When World War II broke out, he realized he could not return.  The family he left behind were killed by mass murder.  Pachner, however, cannot forget the bond with the memory of his family, and has said, "...the connectedness was of lasting and determining importance - a bond of intimate and life-giving connection, which intensified with its loss."

Following the war, Pachner abandoned his career to be come a studio artist in Woodstock, New York.  The Florida Holocaust Museum is pleased to present this retrospective of William Pachner's artwork.  There is a special emphasis on his last works, which serve as powerful statements about the world in which we live.

Rwanda: Personal Images by Vivian Bower

Showing March 9 - June 30, 2013

In her series of pastel drawings, Vivian Bower responds to the genocide that took place in Rwanda during 1994 when 800,000-1,000.000 Tutsis were brutally massacred by Hutus.  Turning to her work as the only action she could take, she created drawings using Xerox images of victims and borrowing language from the media's description of the genocide.  The work is personal, not political.  Bower's intention is to confront the truth and to express her pain and horror.  Perhaps this work will encourage viewers to reflect on and recognize that the words, "Never Again," spoken after the Holocaust or the Armenian Genocide or other mass murders must begin to resonate in our consciousness.

Courage and Compassion:  The Legacy of the Bielski Brothers

Showing April 13 - September 29, 2013

An original, award-winning FHM exhibition, Courage and Compassion chronicles the Bielski brothers' story.  The exhibition is a multimedia presentation showcasing the heroic efforts of Tuvia, Asael and Zus Bielski who helped save more than 1,200 people while living in the forest during World War II. 

In the forest, the brothers formed a community of men, women and children and led the group in acts of sabotage and defense against the Nazis.  It is through the brothers' leadership that the group survived starvation, harsh winters and the threat of the Nazis and their collaborators.

Yom HaShoah Commemoration

Florida Holocaust Museum
April 8, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

After a commemorative ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, keynote speaker, Deborah Dwork, Ph.D. will present on "Holding on Through Letters:  Jewish Families During the Holocaust." Jewish families in Nazi Europe tried to hold onto each other through letters. But wartime conditions applied. Letters were censored, and could not be sent between countries at war with each other. How to keep in contact? And, once contact was established, what to say — and about what to remain silent? In her presentation, Debórah Dwork will explain the ingenious ways people bypassed the censors. She will trace how letters became threads stitching loved ones into each other's constantly changing daily lives.” Dwork is an American historian and is the Rose Professor of Holocaust History and Director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. 

Yom HaShoah is presented in partnership with the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis and the Bay Area Cantorial Association. 

Drawing on Conversation

Florida Holocaust Museum
April 13, 2013 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Join FHM Executive Director, Elizabeth Gelman, in the galleries of the Florida Holocaust Museum for an evening of dialogue and an artistic experience.  Participants will create pencil sketches to take home.  No experience is necessary.

Armenian Genocide Commemoration

St. Hagop Armenian Church
April 20, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

This year's Armenian Genocide Commemoration will be a celebration of life featuring poetry and music.  The program will also include a traditional Armenian requiem ceremony.

Free to all.

St. Hagop Armenian Church,
7010 90th Ave, Pinellas Park, Florida

Remembering Survival with Christopher Browning

USF St. Petersburg
April 25, 2013, 6:30 p.m.

and

Temple Beth Sholom, Sarasota
April 26, 2013, 10:30 a.m.

Join renowned author Christopher Browning, Ph.D., as he shares his latest book, "Remembering Survival:  Inside a Nazi Slave-Labor Camp."  Employing the rich testimony of Survivors of slave labor camps, Browning weaves the experiences of Jewish prisoners, Nazi authorities, and neighboring Poles into a chilling story of an aspect of the Holocaust that is only now coming to light. 

Browning is the Frank Porter Graham Distinguished Professor of History at the University of North Carolina. He has published eight books in the field of Holocaust Studies, three of which have been awarded the National Jewish Book Award, including   "Ordinary Men:  Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland" (1993) and "Remembering Survival" (2010).