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Holocaust Memorial Center another step closer to its new home.
HARRY KIRS BAUM
Staff Writer
ola Pines was excited to
watch the groundbreaking
ceremony at the site of the
new Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills.
"I'm a survivor, and I couldn't see any-
thing nicer than to see this coming alive,"
said Pines of Southfield, who speaks
about her experiences at local schools.
Abe Weberman, president of Shaarit
Haplaytah (the Remnant), a Detroit
organization for Holocaust survivors,
called the ceremony a "historic day."
"This is the education we can gain for
the future for the kids," said Weberman,
who spent five years in concentration
camps. "So everybody, Gentiles and
Jews, learns what happened. And I hope
that it never happens again."
More than 125 people heard from 11
speakers during the 45-minute ceremony,
held June 23 in what once was the lobby
of the AMC Old Orchard Theatre (more
recently rented by a church). The loca-
tion is on Orchard Lake Road, just north
of 12 Mile Road and the 1-696 freeway.
"History, and particularly Holocaust
history, demonstrated that education,
including religious education, is in
itself no barrier to prejudice, hatred
and violence:: said Rabbi Charles
Rosenzveig, HMC founder and execu-
tive director.
6/28
2002
16
Over the last 18 years, 2.5 million
visitors — including 1.7 million
schoolchildren from throughout the
world — have visited the HMC in
West Bloomfield. The rabbi said the
HMC was the first freestanding
Holocaust center in America.
"The project we have begun today
represents an unprecedented pioneer-
ing vision," said Rabbi Rosenzveig.
"Upon its full realization, it will con-
stitute an effective vehicle to bring
about a more open-minded, tolerable
society of healthier human relation-
ships. Considering the present univer-
sal political and social environment,
this project assumes a lifesaving instru-
ment. We must not shirk our opportu-
nity and responsibility. We will not."
About $4.5 million of the project's
cost of $17 million has been raised, the
rabbi said, with the center expected to
open in fall 2003. At 41,000 square
feet, the new center will be 4i/2 times
larger than the existing 12,000-square-
foot structure located adjacent to the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield. The new facility will
include a larger library at 6,700 square
feet and the addition of a Museum of
European Jewish Heritage and an
International Institute of the Righteous.
Commenting on the International
Institute of the Righteous, HMC
President Alan Zekelman said: "By
showing examples of how individuals
have gone against the tide, made per-
sonal decisions to save the lives of oth-
ers wile risking their own, by being
Left: Groundbreaking
cerermonies in front
of the former Old
Orchard Theatres in
Farmington Hills.
- Above: An artist's
rendering of the new
Holocaust Memorial
Center