On Monday, March 18th, the Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum of South Florida at Nova Southeastern University’s Alvin Sherman Library hosted the opening of “Holocaust By Bullets”. The traveling exhibition which details the Holocaust as a mass murder model is based on 10 years of research in Eastern Europe by Yahad-In Unum. Dr. Ewa Schaller, the organization’s Senior Program Officer, Educator and Education Coordinator was the opening ceremony’s guest speaker. “Holocaust By Bullets” will be on display through May 5th.
Craig R. Weiner, President of the Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum of South Florida, shared details about the exhibition.
“The organization, Yahad-in Unum, based in Paris and New York, was founded by French Catholic Priest Father Patrick Desbois who has spent his life researching the Holocaust, fighting antisemitism and furthering relations between Catholics and Jews. ‘Holocaust By Bullets’ focuses on Father Desbois and Yahad-In Unum’s research in Eastern Europe. In 1942 a French military prisoner of war named Claudius Desbois attempted to escape and was subsequently deported by the Germans to Rawa Ruska, a small village in Ukraine. Claudius never spoke about his experience until one day when he finally told his grandson, Patrick, how awful things were for him: no food, no water, always thirsty. Claudius said as horrible it was for him, it was much worse for others. This lead Father Desbois to learn more about the killing fields throughout Eastern Europe. Twenty years later, Father Desbois and his team uncovered through eye witness testimonies, some 3,300 mass graves where Jewish men, women and children were murdered and left in remote forests. The exhibit gives viewers an opportunity to learn about this lesser‐known side of the Holocaust through eyewitness testimonies, photographs and maps. The exhibit presents Yahad’s identification of five steps of the crime that took place almost systematically for every mass killing throughout Eastern Europe leading up to the executions: • the arrest, • the road (transporting), • the undressing, • the shooting and after the executions, • the looting. The steps are described through quotes from eyewitness testimonies and through archival photographs. A short summary defining each step and highlighting the criminal nature of ‘Holocaust by Bullets’ is provided on an introductory panel.”
Weiner explained how “Holocaust By Bullets” is unique from related exhibits in other Holocaust museums/venues.
“People are generally under the impression that all Jews were murdered in gas chambers which, of course, is not the case. One third of the Jewish people, 2 million men, women and children, were murdered one by one in forests throughout Eastern Europe through 1944. Their friends/neighbors all knew what was happening and often went to witness these mass shootings. Many eyewitnesses were asked: Why did you go as a young child to see these
shootings?’ Invariably the answer was one of two things:
• ‘It was entertaining for the children to watch people being killed
• They were required to stand and watch so that they would understand what would happen to them if they hid Jews
It is critical to understand that there were three basic ways with which to murder people: • inside gas chambers • by bullets and through • starvation. We all must also try to understand how people, who were friends and playmates, could suddenly turn on their longtime friends simply due to propaganda.”
Weiner explained how the exhibit relates to current crimes against humanity.
“While this exhibit specifically deals with the murders and mass graves resulting from mass shootings in the killing fields, we must recognize that this type of genocide has taken place again since the Holocaust. The Yazidis in Iraq, Rwanda and other sites have experienced very similar methods as were used by the Nazis. They would assemble people in a small village and tell them that they were being taken to a new home, ghetto, or another place. The killers would invite their intended victims into vans for a supposed ‘safe and easy journey to their new home’ so that the Jews would believe their story. Then the perpetrators would simply drive a mile or two to the nearest forest and brutally murder them. This is genocide and it unfortunately has taken place
several times since the Holocaust.”
Weiner expressed what he hopes visitors take away from seeing the exhibit.
“Our hope is that visitors leave this exhibit emotionally impacted so as to carry this torch forward recognizing that ALL HATE, ALL PREJUDICE is bad for all of us in society. Just look at what hate and antisemitism and prejudice can lead to. Look at the Holocaust. Look at these murderers facing their victims one by one as they shoot them and the victims facing their murderers straight back in the eye. Propaganda is so dangerous, especially to our young people who are not yet experienced enough in life to thoroughly analyze and reflect on what they are looking at on social media. We must not ‘accept’ what we see on the internet or on television talk shows. It’s up to us to THINK about what we are seeing and hearing and ask ourselves:
• Does this really make sense to me?
• What is my upside if I do what is being suggested?
• What potential downside can I suffer by doing what is being suggested?
Unfortunately, many people simply accept as truth whatever they see on social media or on TV talk shows. It’s up to all of us to think about what we see much more carefully. It’s up to all of us to see and fully understand how dangerous hate is. Hopefully, by showing people exactly what happened and reading the actual eye witness testimonies of these non-Jewish elderly people, they will leave this exhibition feeling the same obligation as we do: STAND UP AGAINST HATE. LET’S NOT JUST TALK ABOUT IT. WE MUST ALL BE PROACTIVE AGAINST ALL FORMS OF HATE, PREJUDICE AND INTOLERANCE, or else the world will keep suffering these catastrophic events.”
The Alvin Sherman Library is located at 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd. in Davie. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
For more information visit https://libguides.nova.edu/holocaust-by-bullets?_gl=1*12m0p9f*_gcl_au*MzIyMTQ2NTQ4LjE3MTA4NTE5NjI.
