FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Samantha Kupferman
samantha.f.kupferman@gmail.com, Cell: 202-215-9260
The National WWII Museum Receives Grant to Establish Holocaust Education Program
San Francisco foundation Taube Philanthropies pledges $2 million to New Orleans museum; initiative launches October 25
NEW ORLEANS – San Francisco-based Taube Philanthropies has pledged $2 million to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans to develop the Taube Family Holocaust Education Program. Through lectures, symposia, film screenings, and local and national partnerships, programs highlighting recent research and personal accounts of the Holocaust will ensure public remembrance of the atrocities that led to the genocide of more than six million Jews.
The foundation’s gift will support ongoing Holocaust educational initiatives at the Museum, including free public programming presented annually on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27), as well as distance learning programs that will allow students nationwide to explore individual and collective responsibility in the Holocaust.
“Many initiatives of Taube Philanthropies focus on World War II, the deep and powerful effects of which continue to influence world events,” said Tad Taube, Founder-Chairman of Taube Philanthropies. “The new Holocaust Education Program is critical as Americans are remembering less and less about the war and the lessons of the Holocaust.”
The Taube Family Holocaust Education Program will be overseen by an Advisory Committee of scholars, who will provide guidance on educational content that focuses on the historical significance of the Holocaust, its lasting impact on society, and the lessons that remain pertinent to our world today. Programming will be streamed nationally and accessible anytime online.
The Advisory Committee is comprised of renowned Holocaust experts, including Daniel Greene, PhD, Historian and Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University; Wendy Lower, PhD, John K. Roth Professor of History, Claremont McKenna College; Samuel Kassow, PhD, Charles H. Northam Professor of History, Trinity College; Robert Citino, PhD, Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian, The National WWII Museum; and Shana Penn, Executive Director, Taube Philanthropies.
The Museum’s WWII Media and Education Center offers Holocaust education to middle and high school students across the country, including through two distance learning programs – The Holocaust: One Teen’s Story of Persecution and Survival and When They Came for Me: The Holocaust. Taube Philanthropies’ gift will allow the Museum to expand its current program content, update technology needed to support online education and provide additional staffing resources.
“As the WWII generation passes away, The National WWII Museum has been entrusted to continue telling their stories to future generations – especially the important story of the Holocaust,” said Stephen J. Watson, President & CEO at The National WWII Museum. “The gift from Taube Philanthropies makes it possible for the Museum to expand its teachings about the atrocities of the Holocaust and why we should all stand together against genocide.”
INITIATIVE LAUNCH EVENT
To kick off the expanded Holocaust education initiative, on Thursday, October 25, the Museum hosted a screeningof “Who Will Write Our History,” a feature-length docudrama examining how Polish Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum rallied a clandestine group within the Warsaw Ghetto to chronicle the lives of thousands of Polish Jews as they starved, suffered and ultimately were deported to death camps. Ringelblum and his team buried their documents in milk canisters and metal containers, with the hope they would be found after the war and to ensure their voices and culture would live on. Nancy Spielberg is the film’s Executive Producer. Producer/Director Roberta Grossman was featured at the film’s screening.
The documentary is based on the book of the same title by historian Samuel Kassow, who was part of a panel of speakers at an accompanying public symposium held during the day on October 25. The symposium focused on the question: “What do we do when the witnesses are gone?” Other panelists included Holocaust and WWII scholars Daniel Greene (Northwestern University), Sarah Cramsey (Tulane University) and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (New York University).
About Taube Philanthropies
For more than 30 years, Taube Philanthropies has been a leader in supporting diverse educational, research, cultural, community, and youth organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Poland, and Israel. Founded by businessman and philanthropist Tad Taube in 1981, and now led by Tad and his wife Dianne Taube, the foundation works to ensure that citizens have the freedom and opportunity to advance their goals and dreams. taubephilanthropies.org
The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world—why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today—so that future generations will know the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn. Dedicated in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum and now designated by Congress as America’s National WWII Museum, it celebrates the American spirit, the teamwork, optimism, courage and sacrifices of the men and women who fought on the battlefront and served on the Home Front. The 2018 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards ranks the Museum No. 3 in the nation and No. 8 in the world. For more information, call 877-813-3329 or 504-528-1944 or visit nationalww2museum.org.
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