Please join us for a special commemoration: The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration features a commemorative service and candle lighting followed by our keynote speaker Sheryl Ochayon, of Yad Vashem.

Kristallnacht owes its name to the shards of shattered glass from broken windows that lined German streets on November 9-10 in 1938. Throughout the night, thousands of Jewish owned businesses, homes, and synagogues were ransacked and destroyed in a coordinated series of attacks throughout Germany. This was the first widespread use of massive force against Jews by the Nazi regime and figures as an essential turning point in Nazi Germany.

This commemoration and lecture are free and open to the public. Please register to reserve your seat.

 

A Mysterious Photo Album with a New Lens on Kristallnacht, the November Pogrom:

An old album was kept for many years in the home of a Jewish soldier who served in the US Army in Germany during WWII, but never spoke about his experiences. It was found only after he passed away. According to his granddaughter, “When I opened the album, I felt as if a hole had been burned through my hands.”

What kind of intimate photographs would burn a hole through a viewer’s hands? What do they tell us about the Nazis’ intentions towards the Jews, years before the Final Solution? Why was the pogrom a turning point? Join Sheryl Ochayon, Echoes & Reflections Project Director for Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Education, to view the album and discuss these questions.

 

Sheryl Silver Ochayon holds a law degree from Harvard Law School, a BA in History from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and a Certificate in Genocide Studies from Stockton University.

After a long legal career, she followed her passion and began guiding for Yad Vashem’s Holocaust History Museum. She finally gave up law and began working for the International Institute for Holocaust Education, writing and developing online courses and educational video programs. Currently, Sheryl is Yad Vashem’s Project Director for Echoes & Reflections, a program that empowers American middle and high school educators with dynamic classroom materials and professional development.

Sheryl has represented Yad Vashem in different contexts both in the US and in Israel at seminars and international conferences, and at the United Nations. Sheryl guides groups traveling to Poland, including the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Police, and FIDF and Yad Vashem donors.

 

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