Traveling Holocaust exhibit on display at Glen Cove museum
Courage to Remember is 40-panel exhibit on the Nazi Holocaust written and prepared by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations. The exhibit opened yesterday in Glen Cove. Credit: Howard Simmons
The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County has brought the world-renowned "Courage to Remember" traveling exhibit to its Glen Cove museum to combat antisemitism and increase its educational awareness programs.
Courage to Remember is a 40-panel exhibit on the Nazi Holocaust written and prepared by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations.
The exhibit — which serves as a tribute to the six million Jews and others murdered by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945, and a warning that the root causes of the Holocaust persist — has been viewed in more than 40 countries, translated into 13 languages and been seen by more than 10 million people, organizers said.
Courage to Remember is told through four major themes: the rise of Nazi Germany; the move toward the "Final Solution," the annihilation in Nazi-occupied Europe and the liberation of Holocaust camps.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of the Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the power of the exhibit is its ability to educate a new generation on both the horrors of the Holocaust and the movement that allowed it to happen.
"The deeper meaning of this exhibit … is that we want to raise a generation of young people who are going to take personal responsibility for what they do," Cooper said during a news conference Monday before the exhibit's opening in Nassau. "Who are going to have to deploy critical thinking when they are approached to join a group or to take on a certain action."
Andrea Bolender, acting executive director and chair of the board at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, said the exhibit is a perfect fit for the museum, which teaches about antisemitism, racism, bullying and intolerance. The museum also plans to share the exhibit with local schools and community organizations.
"This exhibit is a wonderful supplement to our museum, which year-round presents a detailed chronicle of the Holocaust using multimedia displays, photographs, artifacts and testimony from Long Island survivors and liberators," Bolender said.
Sen. John Brooks (D-Seaford) said that across the globe people are actively trying to "rewrite history" and avoid telling painful truths.
"That is incredibly dangerous," Brooks said. "We don't want to see history repeat itself. If we don't know the truth, we won't understand when history is about to repeat itself. I think it's critically important that people have the opportunity to see real history with their own eyes."
With Howard Simmons
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
