 Good evening and welcome to the San Antonio Public Library's main branch downtown main library for the second annual Holocaust learning remember an event that was put together and actually the brainchild of Ramiro Salazar Who you'll meet in a few minutes the executive director of the San Antonio Public Library over a breakfast he and I had about two years ago He asked me if there was any event that commemorated Holocaust remembrance I talked to him about Yom HaShua, which being a part of the Jewish community We commemorated yesterday at a at a somber service at Temple Bethel last night But I told them that I didn't know of really any community-wide event Ramiro feeling that the story of the Holocaust as it pertains to Jews and other victims is an Important story to tell to the entire community That was the impetus for creating this event called Holocaust learning remember last year we introduced this event with the help of the mayor of San Antonio Leon Castro and We had a month-long worth of events throughout the 25 branches of the San Antonio Public Library system And we had Thousands of people come to see a photo exhibit that was at this library as well as see Smaller exhibits and listen to talks from both survivors and and other community leaders around the branches around the city of San Antonio The event was so successful in fact last year that we decided to make it an annual event So you all are part of launching the second Version of this event called learning remember so just a few things to point out one is we have a Group of people that helped make this really event possible Like I tell you it was an idea that I mean oh had and he and I discussed it But we've had great partnerships with the San Antonio Public Library Foundation and Tracy's here We have our partners from the Jewish Federation Ronita's here with us You'll hear in a few minutes from Francesca Garrett. She's the executive director of the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio Another important player in this market last year For those of you that were around you may have remembered that the Mazal Holocaust Library was our partner this year They they were replaced by the Holocaust Memorial Museum for one simple reason the Mazal Holocaust Library has now Left in the San San Antonio and has taken a more global Reach approach and they are now part of the University of Colorado in Boulder Part of the collection is at the Texas A&M University here in San Antonio the San Antonio campus part of it is at an upcoming Charter school that's opening this fall called the Anne Frank Inspire Academy that will be on Vendera Road near 1604 which is a middle school and Part of the collection which we'll discuss and you'll see a part of is actually at our own Holocaust Memorial Museum here in San Antonio Francesco tell you about that so Last night I gave a talk about an uncle of mine who is a Holocaust survivor, so One thing that I realized about the Holocaust being such a heavy subject is that There are a lot of people Jewish and not Jewish that Don't volunteer to want to learn about it, but it's such an important topic that it actually I Think can strengthen the relationship that people have with each other, and that's why I'm Proud and honored to work on this with my friends from the public library from the library foundation as well as from the Jewish community And I encourage you to learn as much as you can. That's why we call this learning remember you'll Pick up a postcard on your way out. There's a series of events throughout the month. I'll be listed on the website but I'd like to Now introduce you to you know in my mind and my eyes the person who made this possible Ramiro Salazar the executive director of the San Antonio Public Library Thank you, how we how we you were too generous with Giving me credit for For this program Actually, yes, you and I kind of talked about it and we both kind of gave it some life and And from there took off when we approach other of our partners And so beauty serve as much as the credit as I do and others that have worked very hard but I do want to I Wanted to do a couple of things and as part of my speaking to you first of all The director of the San Antonio Public Library library. I want to extend to all of you a very warm welcome to your library And I'll talk very briefly in a few minutes about the importance of libraries with this kind this kind of events and Opportunities for a public discourse But I do want to acknowledge our partners and not only how we Who's worked very hard as part of the planning group? but also our partnership with the Holocaust Memorial Museum and and another our friends at the Museum the San Antonio Public Library Foundation for for their support Francesca Garrett also for She's relatively new, but she's the executive director the Holocaust Memorial Museum for Embracing this opportunity and for for your support. We also had an opportunity to partner with the city Executives of San Antonio and actually had a side visit. I think the more we talk about what happened With the Holocaust the more we will grow from that and the more powerful we can be to continue to talk about the message of tolerance and So what I wanted to say is that I think libraries play a very important role and the role that we play is to provide opportunities to educate and to enlighten the communities that we serve about Experiences and tragic tragedies such as the Holocaust that impacted millions of people and And that and that we need to learn from that lesson and that libraries need to To carry that message to educate Because we we need to really teach and practice tolerance and it's the intolerance that leads to this kind of Terrible experiences and even today you read in the news where that there's still a lot of intolerance and it hasn't changed There has been some changes, but it hasn't gone away. Let me rephrase it it hasn't gone away and so there's a lot of work to be done and Through my experience in Dallas starting in Dallas with the Jewish community. I've really Felt that I had a role as director of whatever library. I was leading to to promote and encourage and offer programs again that That helped and educate and enlighten communities because again, we all need to stand up and and do something about it and So we're doing our part in partnering and Bringing this program to you. So So with that I want to say that I'm very proud to be part of this initiative and that this is the second year and I'm also proud of that how we've that We make that commitment to continue and we will make offer this Opportunity every year to follow because again, we we need to continue that work of teaching and educating Tolerance in this community. So, thank you Next I'd like to invite somebody up here who's New to San Antonio, but not new to the game of causes around our country Ronit Sherwin recently moved to San Antonio and is now the CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, Ronit Good evening. My name is Ronit Sherwin as how we just introduced me and I'm the CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio The Jewish Federation for those of you who are not familiar is the umbrella organization of the Jewish community Serving as a convener on issues of import to the Jewish community as well as raising funds to support Jewish organizations and programs Such as Jewish Family Services the Jewish Community Center the Community Relations Council that works across the larger San Antonio community on Issues having to do with multi multi-faith issues as well as humanitarian efforts It is an honor for me to claim the Holocaust Memorial Museum as a program of the Jewish Federation The Holocaust Memorial Museum is more than a museum. It is a dynamic resource that teaches our community Not only about the past, but how we move forward into the future with respect and dignity for all humanity Today as you know commemorates Yom Hashawa Holocaust Remembrance Day This is is a particularly somber and painful day for the Jewish people Remembering the tragedy of over four million Jews who lost their lives in the Holocaust In addition, many other minority groups were singled out and murdered with equal hate homosexuals Gypsies disabled individuals and others were killed for no other reason than their differences this loss of life was senseless and unjust and There are no words or museums or memorials to express the enormity of what was lost But we are here today to remember and we as the Jewish community are obligated to remember All the lives that were lost Jewish and non-Jewish We read in the Torah also known as the Bible the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy the following For God does justice for the parentless and the widowed and loves the stranger providing them With food and clothing so so shall you love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt The Jewish people take this not as a suggestion, but as an obligation We Jews were strangers in a strange land. We know what it means to feel To feel different and to be different Therefore we are commanded to always love the stranger those who are marginalized Those on the outskirts of society. This is our obligation This is precisely why education is so valued in the Jewish tradition. We need to learn from our own history and apply it to the future We are never too far from the past to learn from it We actually treat the past not simply as history, but as a memory of where we once dwelled Tonight in partnership with the public library the public library foundation the Jewish Federation of San Antonio The great man Howie Nistel we kick off learn and remember and I thank our partners for their commitment to this tremendous program It is critical to building a civilized society That we learn from the Holocaust and that as we say in Jewish tradition. We never forget I want to conclude my remarks by sharing another piece of Jewish wisdom with you the Talmud is a great Jewish text dating back to two Thousand BCE that is full of Jewish teachings and arguments over Jewish law One such teaching commands us as parents to teach our children to swim This may seem a bit strange to find such emphasis on a recreational sport But the true meaning of this imperative if this imperative is that of survival Swimming is used as a metaphor for a survival skill We are obligated to teach our children the skills They need to survive in the world and unfortunately our world is still yet to be perfected And we need to continue to teach them against hate and discrimination At the same time we are here tonight as a testament of to survival Thank you again to all of our partners and for making this event happen and maybe go from strength to strength. Thank you Thank You Ronit This may be the last time you see me up here because I'll introduce the last speaker But before I do I want to thank a couple of other people I know I mentioned Tracy Bennett earlier from the San Antonio Public Library Foundation But I know Lacey Fisher who's not here with us tonight She's worked very hard both on this year's event and last year's event. She recently had a baby Joseph Marx and Joel Banglet Bangolin there you go. I knew I was going to mess it up back there Thank you and then Thank you all for thanking me, but I want to turn around and thank Scott Sager Who's here from Sharkmatic who's from my team that worked on both last year's branding and this year's branding and the website and then Jordan Wimberley who's right here who's also worked on the project and then two other people that we still have at the office They were uploading videos at the last minute, so they stayed back So thank you to my Sharkmatic crew that are here The last person I want to bring up is Francesca Garrett She's the executive director of the Memorial Museum of San Antonio the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio of the Jewish Federation And you know, I haven't had a chance to tell Francesca this she knows I'm very impressed with her skills and her knowledge But you're actually one of my heroes here locally It's such a tough subject and I've been volunteering and working on both the Missal Holocaust Library project for 10 years and a few other Holocaust related projects and It I don't know how you and Juana who also works on this. How do you how you guys get through it? I mean it's admirable that you guys do this kind of work. I know it's not for the pay, you know But I admire you continue the work because without you all I mean we couldn't put on these kinds of events So without further ado Francesca Garrett Thank you for that incredible introduction As has been mentioned tonight I have the incredible honor of serving as the executive director of the Holocaust Memorial Museum of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio And as a museum we do much of the work that you would imagine We have central exhibits that tell the story of the Holocaust We bring in survivors who tell their own stories in persons. We welcome school groups We provide free curricula and educational resources to schools across our city and indeed nationally it when the need is Risen But at the heart of what we do at the Holocaust Museum is the calling to serve as a voice for people who no longer have their own And that can be a survivor of the Holocaust It can be a victim who perished during the Holocaust or even a victim of modern genocide But we must provide the words that they can no longer say and as you pursue this mission We have the incredible joy of meeting individuals like how you nestle like Ramiro like Harry Missal Who was mentioned earlier who've also made it their life's work to promote tolerance and to fight against injustice I'm going to speak for just a moment about Harry Missal who's not here tonight He was a great figure in San Antonio because he was a man who felt a very special calling And he went from Holocaust site from Holocaust camp and memorial to other memorials to antique shops Gathering the artifacts and the items that would tell the stories of people who were gone And he made this journey because he believed that he had to fight the rising epidemic of Holocaust denial in our country and abroad And he thought that these stories could tell about lives that were lost and could show that there were people who were no longer here And he treasured these artifacts and kept them as part of them as all library and it was a very special legacy Now this year when the Holocaust Saw library was disbanded We had the incredible honor of taking this collection of artifacts and making it part of our own Holocaust Memorial Museum And tonight for the first time we're going to unveil two of those artifacts to the public and tell you a little bit that we know About the people who once wore or once carried or once used them We do this that we hope you will imagine others whose names We don't know whose stories we can't guess and so that you'll come to the museum and continue learning You continue the work of people like Harry Missal who's no longer with us and continue to fight for the voices that have been lost I'm going to pick up the first artifact to show you Of the uniform is wearing one of the camps uniform This was worn by a man camp called not And if you look carefully you'll see that there's a triangle and that triangle means that he wasn't a Jewish victim And Maybe Once We can use the records the camp to do it where he may have been from what he might have believed What a lot of people don't know is that the Holocaust is not just a Jewish story There's certainly the six million victims who were Jewish call out for benches But there were others like this man who were put away for reasons that he couldn't help that he couldn't change And when you come closer at the end being there while you look at the uniform and look at the dirt But you can still see on it imagine the life and the man who wants more that's what his moments would have been like and Understand to the odd he survived We don't know his name, but we know the fate of someone like him who worked hard and working for us just like this Performing useless tasks that serve their purpose to be exhausted to the point of death Likely that's the fate of this man It's an incredible art of optics collected by Harry the permission of the camp So they bring it here to San Antonio to teach So two of these smaller objects in front of me. I'm going to handle them and we're turning them to the box This is a smaller effective for me. It's one of the most powerful pieces in our collection for those of you in the back the tiny spoon Now this food might have been used for tea In life we need to stir coffee. Most likely it was by a child And we know something of the history of a spoon because we know what was found in a building called Canada 2 Which was a storehouse and that means that this was a spoon It was packed by a family to be gathered by the Nazis until they have one day to gather the most precious belongings into a single suitcase And they would carefully pick up each object in their house trying to find should we bring the things that we need The things that cost the most or maybe just the memories that was the most important to us And place them in a suitcase Believing a lot that they were going somewhere safe believing that they would get to use this spoon And we know that they were loaded onto trains and that their luggage was taken from them But then they were allowed to paint their names on the suitcase because again They'd be getting it back when they arrived at a new safe home We know they've never got this luggage back We know that the child that the spoon was likely attended before was probably taken off in the camp out on the train at Ashwoods We know that because of his age He wouldn't have survived that first day We know that he would have been pulled from his mother if they deemed her healthy enough to work But perhaps she was able to carry him to the gas chamber But the child who was supposed to use this spoon is no longer alive His chance of life was taken We know too the luggage the right now that train was taken and put in that storehouse called Canada too And they're going to sat and to look at be sorted by Nazi workers deciding which items had enough value to sell Which items they themselves might want to use their own homes and give to their own children We know that this food stayed in the storehouse till the final days of the war when the Nazis realized they had lost And suddenly there was a need to cover the evidence of the horrible and imaginable crime they had committed And so Canada too was burned to the ground When you come up after a truck, I hope you'll look at the two spoons we have in this case This smaller is darker and that's because of the fire that engulfed it But it survived the fire to live as a testament of one of the failings who was loaded onto a train and might be murdered I hope you'll come up and take a minute to look at these artifacts And again, to acknowledge the people who once loved them and warned them and used them and suffered them And I hope too that you'll look at the brochure on your seat We've attached them to the top right corner, a small bolt pin It's the Hebrew word for so-called war and it means to remember And our hope is that you'll wear that pin And when you do, you will think about the families we've talked about today About the other victim groups were represented by those in the corner of the room They were killed because they were handicapped because of the fate they would have denied Because of the tendency they could not change Because of the use they would not let go of Or just the leaves they thought were worth dying for I hope that you will learn and I hope that you will remember In a moment we're going to take a banner and lay it out I hope that you will sign your name to it because you take this pledge But most definitely you will come in tonight Thank you Francesca for a most moving presentation That concludes tonight's program I encourage you to go to the website learnandremember.org And over the coming weeks we will be posting a new video Every four or five days about these different groups stories So Jewish stories, stories of political prisoners Gay and lesbian individuals who are targeted for their sexual orientation There were people with physical and mental disabilities that were targeted for that reason And so we're going to tell those stories The first story that's on the website right now is a story of a young boy I won't tell you too much about it, I want you all to go listen to the story And it's read by our very own Mayor Julian Castro These stories will also be on iPads that the San Antonio Public Library Foundation donated to the San Antonio Public Library And here on the first floor in the public library space There'll be iPads with the stories and you can watch them there as well And we'll have some of those iPads at some of the branch libraries in the coming month, long worth of events So with that bid you good night, thank you all for being here Please feel free, we'll be around if you have any questions for us Come look at these artifacts that are at the museum And I also encourage you to come and visit the museum Which is located at the Jewish Community Center here in San Antonio Have a good evening