BOCA RATON, Fla. — Florida Atlantic University is planning to begin construction this summer on a Holocaust museum after receiving a "significant gift" from Craig and Barbara Weiner
The university is planning to build a 2,000-square-foot museum within the Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters on the Boca Raton campus. It will be called Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum of South Florida at FAU.
The news release didn't include the donation amount.
The gift includes funding for the interior of the museum, including display cases and donated authentic artifacts from the Holocaust.
The historical artifacts will be displayed "narratives that teach not only the history of the Holocaust but represent the emotional stories of the unthinkable cruelty inflicted on the victims," according to a release from FAU Foundation.
Displays will include the tools used for a eugenics study in a Nazi-run laboratory and a man’s concentration camp uniform in summer fabric from Sachsenhausen, "reminding visitors of how vulnerable the prisoners were to the weather each winter."
"The museum will be a legacy to the Weiners’ tireless work in educating future generations about the importance of standing up against all forms of hate, prejudice and bigotry through Holocaust education," Michael Horswell, Ph.D., dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, said. “The museum will also be a distinctive addition to the Wallach building’s prominence as an educational and cultural destination.”
The Weiners previously established The Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum at Nova Southeastern University in Davie with a collection of more than 200 artifacts.
Craig and Barbara Weiner were named Social Justice Change Makers by the Anti-Defamation League of Florida in May 2021. They were also awarded the 2022 Southeastern United States Leadership Award by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
"Barbara and I are 100 percent steadfastly committed to teaching as many young people as possible about the dangers of hate, prejudice and bigotry,” Craig Weiner said in the news release. “This is our way of giving back to this amazing country. Our aim is to enhance and expand Holocaust education as much and as far as we are able to do as a family."
FAU plans to hire a museum director to oversee the museum, conduct tours, and develop Holocaust education programs for middle and high school students.
For more information or to donate to the Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Jewish Studies Building, or to the museum, contact Laurie Carney at lcarney@fau.edu or visit Wallach Building | Florida Atlantic University.
In November, WPTV reported a local Jewish organization, Herut Florida, was seeking a location for a Holocaust museum in West Palm Beach.
South Florida had an estimated 470,00 year-round Jewish residents and 56,000 season residents, according to the Encyclopedia of South Jewish Communities in 2018. The region includes Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
