With the busy fall events, due to the hurricane the teacher workshop “How Was it Possible? A Holocaust Curriculum For and By Teachers” is rescheduled to October 22nd. All educators can sign up if they missed the original date.

Teachers will be returning to another annual training with new resources for teachers by teachers from the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. Remember to join us for first Virtual Lunch and Learn on October 10th with Holocaust survivor Dr. Miriam Klein-Kassenoff. She will share her story of running from the Nazi and escaping to the United States.

The Annual Remembrance Dinner is filling up with the deadline soon to reserve your seats. Many past honorees have shared their comments to know how important this event is for our community and continuing Holocaust education. Starting with Susan Turner, Linda Davey, Rita Blank, Senator Bill Montford, and Ken Boutwell, have sent messages to know what it meant to them that gives HERC the needed support to carry on the critical mission.

2016 Susan Turner – Humanitarian Award

As a member of the HERC Dinner committee since the very first year, my connection to HERC runs deep.

I was honored to receive the HERC Humanitarian Award in 2016. As a Jewish -American and as a human being, I believe Holocaust education is the key to understanding the horrors that can be provoked by hatred against others. While the majority of Americans and many people worldwide don’t know anyone touched by antisemitism, they do know what racial, ethnic and religious prejudice can create.

“Standing up to Hate” raises the awareness of Anti- Semitism. HERC’s mission is to educate students, along with people of all ages, about how hate and violence can create stereotyping and suspicion about “the other.” My grandparents came to America from Bella Russe, Russia, escaping the pogroms in which Jews were slaughtered. Thanks to their survival, I have a responsibility to talk to others who have little knowledge of events leading up to, during, and after the Holocaust.

Among other things, HERC raises funds for trunks of Holocaust-related books to be given to our schools and for teacher workshops. Teachers attending our workshops learn about Holocaust education at their grade level, so they can guide their students to stand up to hatred. From east of Tallahassee to the west coast of Florida, HERC works to bring enlightenment, training, information, and materials to teachers eager to teach Holocaust education.

Of course, all of this takes money and support. The Remembrance Dinner is our largest fundraiser of the year. Rising costs are a constant challenge to keeping our programs updated and vibrant, making them stronger.

Become our partner in “standing up to hate” through Holocaust Education. Support the HERC Remembrance Dinner today!

2017 Linda Davey – Educator Award

In the 1990’s, at the end of survey courses in U.S. history and Western Civilization, my students wanted to learn more about the Holocaust. I randomly asked them, “if I taught a course on the Holocaust, would you take it?” They resounding said, “Yes!”, and my semester long course was born. This led to a long involvement with HERC (which was founded in the years after I started teaching the Holocaust course). In 2017, I was shocked when HERC recognized me as their honoree. Many times, I was asked “Why do you teach this ­–– it’s so depressing!” My response: in addition to the civics lesson of how quickly democracy can be destroyed, my hope was for my students to leave my classroom knowing that they must resolve not to tolerate stereotypes, prejudice, bigotry, or hatred. They must recognize that no human is more human than another, that every human being has value, that indifference and apathy are more dangerous than hatred, that they cannot stay silent in the face of hate, and that they, as individuals, are responsible for the dignity and freedom of all they meet – whether or not they like or understand them. These are the lessons of the Holocaust. If learned, there is hope for what humanity can become.

2018 Rita Blank – Founders Award

It is important to work toward a world free of injustice and intolerance. As Co-founder of HERC I have seen firsthand that the more involved HERC becomes with students, teachers and our community the more we realize our efforts are needed.

I encourage you to attend the 13th Annual Remembrance Dinner on Tuesday, October 29 at the Dunlap Champions Club, join our team and be a part of HERC’s commitment to our community.

2019 Senator Bill Montford – HERC Award

One of the most meaningful awards I have received was the Holocaust Education Research Council (HERC) Honoree Award in 2019. It was important to me simply because of the significant role that HERC plays in providing guidance and support for students, teachers, and the community to learn about the Holocaust and the importance of tolerance. While people may be culturally and socially different, we must find ways to embrace those differences through tolerance, understanding, and acceptance, which is the foundation of HERC. I wholeheartedly support HERC and the impactful work that this organization provides, and I strongly encourage you to support them as well.

2023 Ken Boutwell – Humanitarian Award

Teaching and learning about the cruelty and horrors of the Holocaust is absolutely essential, but It is not enough! We must travel the extra mile to apply lessons learned about antisemitism and the Holocaust to stand up to hate in its every form. This second mile is tough, especially when hate is hurting others, not me or my people. As my friend, Susan Turner, has said so often and so well, we must stand up against hatred in all its forms whenever and wherever it occurs and to whom it is directed.

Prior to the Holocaust, the Nazi party mounted a public propaganda campaign painting Jews as criminals, designing a massive deportation plan, the Madagascar Plan, to deport Jews and other “undesirable people. Most of the hate was directed toward those with Jewish heritage, thus creating the Holocaust. The majority of German people bought the party’s criminal propaganda, supported deportation so strongly that when deportation lead to extermination support remained. Too late for others to speak up, and therefore millions were cruelly murdered.

It is easy for us today to criticize German people for strongly supporting these acts of deportation and murder. What do we do when national leaders characterize major groups of our citizens as criminals and promise to deport them if elected? With the hatred directed towards others and not me, what would I do. What would you do? Would we stand up and speak out against Anti-Semitism, hate of others or would we be supportive like the German people were in the 1930’s? Education and information create understanding hopefully leading to connection and a spirit of lifting each other, whoever we are.