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...to educate and inspire viewers
United States Department of Defense The Afikim Foundation is working with the renowned design firm Chicken&Egg, along with an expert on military history from the Intrepid Museum in New York, to develop these exhibitions. Focusing on the liberation of the death camps at the culmination of World War II, the exhibit will explore the personal and collective experiences of the American liberators who unconsciously stumbled upon these camps and dramatically changed the lives of their inhabitants while also being touched by the survivors themselves. The opening for this
exhibition is slated to be held in July 2006 with the inaugural
event perhapshosted
at the Pentagon in Washington
D.C. The exhibit will be replicated so that it
will be shown at a minimum of 16 army base museums
across the country. The exhibition will be a free standing model that will depict an overview of the concepts to be studied in depth through the tool-kit. It will be a visually inspirational structure and framework that will augment and serve as a reference point for the accompanying curricula. The exhibit may be designed as panels that will include maps, texts, photos and a video component. We are currently investigating a three dimensional modular system that can contain objects as well as mount texts and pictures. This system provides versatility for different settings and is easily maintained and reused in ensuing years.
We are deeply appreciative of the ongoing support and encouragement of Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Rabbi Hier and his associates have consistently made themselves available to us. Rabbi Hier’s sage counsel continues to inspire the development of many of the One Soul components. This presentation will be available in the following locations: For more information on One Soul and how it can be brought to your community, please contact Aliza Weinstein at 212.791.7450 or Aliza@afikimfoundation.org. |
Currently,
The Afikim Foundation is spearheading two national aspects of
this Initiative: 
In a partnership with the United
States Department of Defense and the Center for Military History,
The Afikim Foundation
will foment
exhibits about the Holocaust for placement
in army base museums. The purpose of these exhibitions
is to imbue members of the armed forces with a sense of pride
and
dignity about its past and present endeavors
to protect individuals, families,
communities, cultures, ethnicities and nations from
the abuses of those who aim to violate their inalienable human
rights.
The One Soul: Holocaust Education Exhibit will fill the growing
schism that is arising between the dying generation
of survivors and the
new generation of youth that is struggling to
comprehend the depths of evil that abounded in the Holocaust.
While Holocaust
education
has certainly grown in importance, the method
by which it is taught focuses on the death and destruction without
teaching
students (of
any age) about the lessons that can be learned
and
how their emotional and intellectual responses can be channeled
into constructive action and awareness. 
The tool-kit accompanying the exhibition
will be geared towards educating and inspiring students, families,
individuals and communities to be aware of intolerance and
ethnocentrism and
their consequences. Participants
will be encouraged to follow up on the message
learned by working
together to the benefit of their communities.