Page 29 - Starwood

Holocaust Documentation and Education Center
Based in Dania Beach, Florida, the Holocaust Documentation & Education Center
(HDEC) was founded in 1980 as a nonsectarian, nonprofit, multifaceted organization
and is currently fundraising the next $8 to $10 million dollars to build out the first
South Florida Holocaust Museum. The museum will put names and faces to the victims,
raising the sounds of their moral voices of conscience to mute the noise of prejudice and
hatred. The museum will feature an authentic Polish Railcar and an authentic U.S. Army
M-4A3E8 Sherman Tank, as well as oral history interviews, photographs, documents, and
other items from the HDEC collection.

The HDEC’s Documentation Department continues to conduct interviews with
Survivors, Liberators, Rescuers, and other eyewitnesses in order to document their stories
for future generations. The HDEC has been lauded by the Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm
Beach, and Monroe school board for its outstanding educational outreach programs,
especially Student Awareness Days, Teacher Institutes, and the Annual Contests.

The most profound achievement of the HDEC, which impacted every aspect of
Holocaust education in the state of Florida, came when Governor Lawton Chiles signed
Florida Statute 1003.42, mandating that Holocaust education be implemented in all
public schools in the state from kindergarten through colleges and universities.

The HDEC’s reference and research library contains more than 6,000 volumes of
Holocaust-related books, journals, DVDs, and videos and will be finished in the Phase II
construction.

The HDEC is very close to the hearts of JC White; our president, Sharon Feltinghoff,
serves on its Board of Directors.

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