Holocaust Memorial Museum
| Grant Information | |
|---|---|
| Categories | Community , Peace |
| Location | United States |
| Cycle Year | 2023 |
| Organization Information | |
|---|---|
| Organization Name (provided by applicant) | Jewish Federation of San Antonio |
| Organization Name (provided by automatic EIN validation) |
|
| EIN | 74-1109662 |
| Website | https://www.jfsatx.org/ and https://www.hmmsa.org/ |
| Contact Information | |
|---|---|
| Contact Name | Ms. Leslie Met |
| Phone | 210-302-6812 |
| metl@jfsatx.org | |
| Address |
12500 NW Military Hwy
San antonio
TX
78231
|
| Additional Information | |
|---|---|
| Used for | Your gift, in the amount of $5,000, will help ensure that The Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio continues its Holocaust educational programs, tours, and outreach to the community. On-going educational programs, as well as museum visits, provide the museum the opportunity to reach all segments of South Texas and establish new and meaningful educational opportunities by fostering deep, meaningful, and sustained dialogue at all levels of our society. |
| Benefits | The Holocaust illustrates the dangers of prejudice, discrimination, antisemitism and dehumanization. It also reveals the full range of human responses - raising important considerations about societal and individual motivations and pressures that lead people to act as they do - or to not act at all. The Museum, and the educational programs provided, combat bullying, bigotry, racism, and discrimination bringing groups of school-age children and educators, as well as the community, to the Holocaust Memorial Museum for transformational and enduring sessions so that they help light the path to a better world. |
| Proposal Description | Funds will be used for educational and outreach programs of the museum. The Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio (HMMSA), a department of the Jewish Federation, was founded in 1975 as the “Holocaust History Project” to assist local school districts in supplementing their World War II curriculum. Today, the Holocaust Memorial Museum continues to offer services at no cost to an ever-growing audience. More than 20,000 students and visitors across San Antonio and South Texas annually visit the museum where they are provided with a customized tour explaining the history of the Holocaust time period, engage in intergenerational conversations with Holocaust survivors, and participate in creative educational programming, all focused towards an understanding of the lessons to be learned which emerged from the Holocaust.
Additionally, the Holocaust Memorial Museum offers the following resources to educators, students, academics, authors, and public and private organizations:
Museum visits and tours, as well as educational resources, are available at no charge to the public. The Holocaust Memorial Museum's work is funded by individual donations and grants.
The Holocaust illustrates the dangers of prejudice, discrimination, antisemitism and dehumanization. It also reveals the full range of human responses - raising important considerations about societal and individual motivations and pressures that lead people to act as they do - or to not act at all. In November 2021, San Antonio and the HMMSA saw hate at its front door with Holocaust-denying protestors camped out across the street from our facility. Months later we continue to learn of antisemitic flyers being distributed in neighborhoods across the San Antonio area, spewing hate and lies. This data comes just one year following the release of a report in September 2020 – U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey by the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany – which resulted in a disturbing lack of basic Holocaust knowledge by U.S. millennials and Gen Z. The report found that 48% of national survey respondents could not identify key historical facts as basic as: hearing about the Holocaust; naming at least one concentration camp, death camp or ghetto; and did not know or believe that six million Jews died during the Holocaust. In Texas, the report indicated that a stunning 55% of millennials and Gen Z could not name at least one concentration camp or ghetto and over 58% have seen Holocaust denial or distortion on social media or elsewhere online. Studying the Holocaust allows students to develop the capacity and willingness to be informed and active citizens. It shows us how fragile the institutions that are supposed to protect the rights and security of everyone can be, and how those institutions should not be taken for granted. Our educational initiatives are a mission broader than merely educating our children and community about the history and lessons learned from the Holocaust. We are focused on combating bullying, bigotry, racism, and discrimination, primarily by bringing groups of school-age children and educators to the Holocaust Memorial Museum for transformational and enduring sessions so that they help light the path to a better world. The Holocaust spanned geographic boundaries, affected all segments of societies, and occurred in the context of the Second World War. Decades later, societies continue to wrestle with both the memory and historical record of the Holocaust in the midst of contemporary challenges. These include rising antisemitism and xenophobia; unfolding genocides in the world; the ongoing refugee crisis – in Texas and the rest of the Southern Border, as well as internationally; and threats to many democratic norms and values. The deep polarization of the political climate exacerbates these issues within the United States. Finally, we are now seeing renewed focus on the Jewish state of Israel following the attack by Palestinian terrorists several weeks ago. All of these world, national, state, and local events ensure that the enduring lessons of the Holocaust are as applicable today as they were almost 80 years ago. |