Triumph of Memories and Hope for the Future

A virtual evening of inspiration to benefit the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center in Naples

Fritzi Thorner, of Naples, provides a survivor oral history
Fritzi Thorner provides a survivor oral history.

After reformatting and rescheduling its annual signature fundraising Triumph speaker event, the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center will be hosting a virtual presentation with an international expert and profiles of Southwest Florida Holocaust survivors on Wednesday, March 24, at 7 p.m.

Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D., executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation
Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D.

Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D., executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education and a religion professor, is the keynote speaker for “Triumph of Memories and Hope for the Future.” His presentation will include a demonstration of the Shoah Foundation’s unique “Dimensions in Testimony” series of virtual reality/interactive Holocaust survivor interviews.

The Shoah Foundation was founded by legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg in 1994 to preserve Holocaust witness and survivor interviews. Today it houses 55,000 audio-visual testimonies conducted in 65 countries and in 43 languages. The institute holds 11 patents on digital-collection management technologies and is located at the University of Southern California. It also gathers testimonies and educates the public about genocide campaigns in Armenia; Nanjing, China; Rwanda; and Cambodia.

Lorie Mayer, the late local Holocaust museum co-founder and original curator
Lorie Mayer, the late local Holocaust museum co-founder and original curator

The Triumph 2021 event also includes a museum-curated experience featuring inspirational music and interviews with local Holocaust survivors. Funds raised benefit the museum’s education programs.

Tickets for the one-hour Zoom presentation are $125 per household. For sponsorship information and tickets: Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center.

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