Unapologetically Powerful: The Schindler-
Holocaust Museum Traveling Exhibit
by Sandy Gholston, April 11, 2008
Powerful but necessary, the Schindler-Holocaust Museum Traveling Exhibit (which will be on campus through May 16) serves as a sometimes painful but very important reminder to humankind, according to Carrie Weis, who is director of the Rankin Center Art Gallery at Ferris State University.
"This exhibit is a reminder to all of us what can happen when fear, hate and discrimination are taken to extremes. The Holocaust was not just a systematic persecution of Jews; it was the persecution and murder of anyone deemed 'racially inferior,'" Weis said of an exhibit in large part inspired by the life and efforts of Oskar Schindler. "Extermination was carried out on anyone with a mental or physical disability as well as on racial, political and ideological grounds."
For the eighth-year director of the Rankin Gallery, the Schindler-Holocaust Museum Traveling Exhibit is especially powerful.
"I was recently in Germany and visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial and it was terrifying to realize that very few individuals or groups were safe from the threat of imprisonment," said Weis, who made the effort to bring the museum to Ferris by contacting the Traveling Exhibit's coordinator. "Jehovah's Witnesses, Slavic and Polish peoples, Russians, Roma (Gypsies), Communists, Socialists and trade unionists were all targeted as well as many others."
The exhibit is more than just a collection of photos and information. Weis hopes visitors take time to understand the history of the Holocaust and the significance of people like Schindler, a German industrialist who worked to rescue Jews from death. While an estimated six million Jews died during the Holocaust in Nazi concentration camps, the efforts of men like Schindler saved many lives. Included in the Schindler-Holocaust Museum Traveling Exhibit are many items related to the Holocaust along with biographical information and photographs of Schindler.
"I hope to educate, to bring a realization to anyone that has not reflected on the atrocities of the Holocaust and to showcase that within the midst of extreme and inhumane cruelty there were a few individuals that became true heroes in their efforts to save lives," Weis said of the exhibit that includes a lot of the information about the Holocaust and Schindler more specifically, that was featured in the highly-acclaimed Steven Spielberg film, "Schindler's List."
Weis says two lectures have been planned as part of the exhibit. The first lecture will be held Thursday, April 17 beginning at 11 a.m. and lasting one hour. As part of that, there will be a panel discussion titled "Courage to Care" led by Barry Mehler. Then, on April 24, there will be a one-hour presentation by Dr. James Walker titled, "Art of the Holocaust."
The exhibit is open from 11 a.m. through 4 p.m. at the Rankin Center Art Gallery. For more information about the exhibit call 591-2536.
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