A Message to Our Community from Board Chair Greg Yawitz & Executive Director Myron Freedman:
We are heartbroken. We are outraged. And yes – we are shaken. These feelings are real, and we are not alone in carrying them.
In recent days, we have witnessed a chilling wave of antisemitic and hateful violence.
Just before the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, multiple Jewish sites in Paris – including the Mémorial de la Shoah were vandalized in a coordinated, hateful act. This fall, members of our community are scheduled to visit this museum as part of our Road to Liberation Holocaust education trip.
Then, in Boulder, Colorado, a peaceful Jewish event supporting Israeli hostages held in Gaza was violently attacked by a man utilizing a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails. Eight people were injured, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.
And our community is still reeling from the recent murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., following a program organized by AJC.
We often say, “Antisemitism did not begin, and did not end, with the Holocaust.” But it is another thing entirely to see that truth play out – on our screens, in our cities, in places that should be sacred and safe.
At the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, we strive to not be bystanders. We are educators, community members, and active allies. We are here to take action against hate.
So here is what we’re doing:
1. Reinforcing Security
We are in close communication with community security and local law enforcement. At this time, there are no known direct threats to our community. While no measure erases fear, we are grateful for our partners’ vigilance and their commitment to our safety. We have had, and will continue to have, a robust security presence at our Museum.
2. Supporting Our Travelers
We are reaching out directly to participants of our Road to Liberation trip to share travel updates and confirm that their safety remains our highest priority – especially as we prepare to visit the recently vandalized Mémorial de la Shoah. If you are part of that trip, you will receive an email from us soon.
3. Strengthening Education
We will review and expand our educational offerings where needed. This spring alone, thousands of students experienced our Impact Lab and learned about the “Spiral of Hate,” a Museum-designed concept that traces how hate grows – from stereotypes, to prejudice, to discrimination, to violence, and ultimately to genocide. These recent events underscore how essential it is to intervene early – to teach history, to challenge hate, and to empower action.
In 1990, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel returned to Auschwitz and said:
“We were convinced that antisemitism perished here. Antisemitism did not perish here; its victims perished here.”
Eighty years after the Holocaust, antisemitism is not fading. It is adapting. And it must be confronted.
Every person has the right to gather in peace, to speak freely, and to feel safe in their community. When those rights are threatened, our work becomes even more urgent.
We will not look away. We will not be silent. We will teach; we will remember – and we will act.