A Reason to Remember: Roth, Germany 1933-1942

The Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. 8^th Street, will host a traveling exhibit from the Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, from January 17 through February 13. Congregation Havurah Shalom of Sun City is sponsoring the 27-panel exhibit, A Reason to Remember. Through photos, documents, and images of artifacts, visitors to the exhibit will learn the stories of five Jewish families from the rural German village of Roth whose lives were forever changed by Nazi policies. The ways in which their lives were dismantled is a microcosm of what took place everywhere in Nazi-occupied Europe during the 1930s and ‘40s.

An opening reception will be held at 1:00 p.m. on January 17. William Morgan, a survivor of the Stanislawow Ghetto of Poland, will speak about his experiences and his escape at the age of 16. While he managed to escape, his parents and six siblings all perished. He later learned that he was the only survivor from his village. This special donor reception is sponsored by Congregation Havurah Shalom. Refreshments and docent-led tours follow Mr. Morgan’s presentation. Admission is $20.00. Respond by January 6 to holocaustexh@gmail.com if you would like to make a donation and attend the speech and reception.

On January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, C.S. Ragsdale, author of Living Longer than Hate, the story of Holocaust survivor William Morgan’s life, will speak at the Georgetown Public Library at 2:00 p.m. Dr. Ragsdale has studied the Holocaust extensively, has interviewed survivors of Nazi experimentation, and interviewed the official court reporter of the Nuremberg trials of the Nazi doctors. The lecture is free and open to the public and after the author’s presentation docent-led tours of the exhibit will be available.

The exhibit will be open to the public, without charge, January 17 – February 13 during regular library hours, and it is not necessary to be a part of a tour to view it. Docent-guided tours are being offered, however, to school and church groups. If you are interested in signing up for a tour, send an email to holocaustexh@gmail.com. Teachers’ resources are available at www.hatikvah-center.org.