Morgan Family Center • 5401 Caroline St. • Houston, TX 77004 • TEL: 713-942-8000 • FAX: 713-942-7953 • E-Those Who Fail To Learn From History
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Saturday, 2 July 2011
Are Condemned To Repeat It
"In 1934, Harry W. Freeman, my grandfather, was already lecturing about the dangers of Hitler and Nazism. Nobody listened. The Holocaust was not prevented. Today Israel's enemies plan a second Holocaust against the Jews of Israel and the world. The governments and people of Europe not only acquiesce but actively aid in this genocidal plan through diplomatic and material support. The American State Department encourages this by actively striving to weaken Israel's strategic and military superiority. Their first stage is to use the so called "peace process" to weaken Israel and strip it of its strategic territories. They are being aided by the same hypocrites and accomplices in the West who failed to aid the Jews of Europe in their darkest hour. Unfortunately, even left-wing Israelis have fallen victims to the seductive lure of peace and have begun a policy of appeasement similar to that tried with Hitler. The results will be no different.
"The Arab propaganda full of slanders and libels; the media bias against Israel replete with double standards and the rewriting of history are all working to the same end: making Israel appear illegitimate. Israel is the only country considered by many to be guilty of original sin by virtue of its very existence. This process has as its goal creating a world climate in which the destruction of Israel is acceptable. Many in the Jewish community are either apathetic or fail to recognize this threat.
"I founded the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies in order to create a powerful voice to arouse the Jewish community to the action necessary to frustrate the evil designs of the enemies of Israel. I need your help to accomplish this mission."
. . . . . . . . .Bernard J. Shapiro
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HOUSTON, TX (June 29, 2011) - Two companion exhibitions opening this July at Holocaust Museum Houston and Congregation Emanu El examine and celebrate the role of Jewish servicemen and women who labored on and off the battlefield during American wars and whose stories have long been overlooked due in part to the prevalence of a once widely held, though fallacious belief that Jews did not serve in the military.
The contributions of Jewish soldiers in the U.S. military during World War II are the subject of the award-winning "Ours to Fight For: American Jews in the Second World War," an exhibition curated by the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City.
The exhibition opens on July 15, 2011 and runs through Dec. 31, 2011 in Holocaust Museum's Mincberg Gallery in the Morgan Family Center, 5401 Caroline St., in Houston's Museum District. The public is invited to a free preview reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 14, 2011. Admission is free, but advanced registration is required for this reception.
The companion exhibit, "We Fought, Too - Jewish Soldiers in America's Wars," highlights Jewish soldiers in the Civil War, World War I, the Vietnam War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and tells some of the stories of the thousands of Jews who have died in combat or been wounded for their country.
The exhibit opens July 15, 2011 and runs through Dec. 31, 2011 at Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd., Houston, TX 77005. Viewing hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public is invited to a free preview reception at Congregation Emanu El from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 14, 2011, immediately following the opening reception at HMH for "Ours to Fight For." Admission is free, but advance registration is requested.
Visit http://www.hmh.org/RegisterEvent.aspx to RSVP online separately for both or either exhibit. For more information, call 713-942-8000 or e-mailexhibits@hmh.org.
"Ours to Fight For" is based on video testimony gathered from more than 400 oral histories with Jewish servicemen and women. Their moving words, animated through historic film footage, videotaped interviews and hundreds of photographs and objects, make it clear that the war had special meaning for minority veterans. The exhibition also shows how Americans who didn't serve in the military made valuable contributions to the war effort from their homes and workplaces in the United States.
The voices of the soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines, WACs and WAVEs appear in seven videos, two audio programs and dozens of written "labels" that narrate the exhibition and animate the artifacts, documents, military paraphernalia and images.
Among the more than 200 artifacts is a Jewish prayerbook of Staff Sgt. Jacob Eines, who was hit by shrapnel but not fatally wounded because of the prayerbook in his breast pocket; the accordion Hermann Goering gave to the Jewish GI who interrogated him after his surrender; and a Torah scroll used by Chaplain Rabbi David Max Eichhorn at the first Jewish service conducted at Dachau after the camp was liberated (together with the film taken at that service).
Interactive stations at the end of the exhibit allow visitors to explore the experiences of other groups who served in the military during World War II, including African-Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and Russian Jews.
Among the exhibition highlights are the sections:
Making a Soldier: Visitors follow the paths real soldiers traveled to discover the process of soldiers' recruitment, induction into the military and military training.
Fighting the War: This section provides first-person accounts of military personnel who fought on land, sea and air, or who worked behind the scenes on military bases. Visitors can view audiovisual presentations together with photographs and artifacts that explain the experiences and complex feelings of those who served in active duty.
Encountering the Holocaust: This section allows visitors to understand the shock and horror of the discovery of the concentration camps through the eyes and words of Jewish and non-Jewish American soldiers who were present at liberation.
Major funding for this exhibition has been generously provided by Jack and Susan Rudin and Family in memory of Lewis Rudin; by Irving Schneider in memory of his friend, Lewis Rudin; and by Irving and June Paler in memory of June's father, Duncan Robertson, who fought for justice in both World Wars.
Presentation of "Ours to Fight For" at Holocaust Museum Houston has been made possible by Baker Botts, LLP; Frost; H-E-B; Marathon Oil Corporation; and the Morgan Family Foundation. Additional local underwriters include Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in memory of Lt. Colonel David Dewhurst; The Jerry and Walter Finger Families; Punkin and Walter Hecht and Family, in memory of Captain Harry Katz; A.I. and Manet Schepps Foundation in memory of A.I. Schepps; Michelle and Gregg Philipson, in memory of Bernard H. Philipson, Joseph I. Warech and Gerard M. Degenstein; Eileen Cersonsky in memory of Leonard "Swede" Cersonsky; Linbeck; and The Machol Family in memory of Fred Machol.
"We Fought, Too," curated by Ellen Trachtenberg and presented as a companion exhibit to "Ours to Fight For," counters the incorrect belief that Jews did not serve in the American military.
Although the famed Southern writer later recanted his error and commended Jewish military service in his 1904 essay "The American Jew as Soldier," Jews today must still defend themselves against the charges that Jews have not served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Since 1654 when the Jewish settlers of New Amsterdam petitioned the governor to be allowed to be part of the defense force of that city, thousands of Jews have defended their nation and have been awarded combat medals for performing their duty in times of war.
"We Fought, Too" showcases more than 90 artifacts from the major American wars, including a Civil War-era $2 bill featuring Judah P. Benjamin, who was appointed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to the post of attorney general, making him the first Jew to hold a Cabinet-level position in an American government; a 1914 prayer book given to Jewish soldiers by the British Army; a U.S. Army World War I uniform; and the chaplaincy items worn by today's Jewish chaplains in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Photographs, medals, books and religious items are among the artifacts collected in the exhibit, which has been generously underwritten by Ellen and Dan Trachtenberg.
The exhibitions are presented with special thanks to United Airlines, official airline of Holocaust Museum Houston.
Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honoring the survivors' legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, the Museum teaches the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy.
Holocaust Museum Houston's Morgan Family Center is free and open to the public and is located in Houston's Museum District at 5401 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004. For more information about the Museum, call 713-942-8000 or visit www.hmh.org.
Copyright 2011, Holocaust Museum Houston
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