Holocaust

Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, is a day to remember the 6 million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust. It commemorates the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and is observed on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. Synagogue services, public vigils, and memorial ceremonies are all part of the commemorations.

A local educator who received a swastika armband anonymously in the mail said he was "absolutely disgusted" by the item and, at first thought to toss it in the trash.Don Dunn, an eighth-grade teacher at Bonita Springs Charter, received the armband with a note that said, “You’ve been selected to join our exclusive group.” "I will tell you that I was absolutely disgusted when I opened it," Dunn said. "Hated the fact that my children were present. In the beginning, I just thought maybe I should throw this away and not say anything. But I thought about it, and to me, that would be maybe responding with fear, and I didn't want to do that."

Some people spend a portion of their lives searching for a passion. Others never stop chasing it. On this night, one man is proving that it’s never too late to take the stage.

In this installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in March 2024, we hear Sunny Lubner interview her very good friend Ella Nayor about her career in journalism, her life-long interest in Holocaust studies and her passion for anti-hate work.

With a mournful violin playing in the background, Holocaust survivors, their sons, daughters and grandchildren, took turns lighting candles, eight in all.The candle lighting highlighted Sunday afternoon’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day held by the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.

The Southwest Florida Symphony’s next Masterworks concert, Feb 3, will feature Naples-based pianist Alexandra Carlson performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, along with performances of Gideon Klein’s Partita for Strings, and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. We’ll delve into the program in a conversation with Maestro Radu Paponiu and the symphony’s community outreach ambassador Robert Van Winkle.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Naples community event features a memorial service and Gulfshore Playhouse performance.

Among the reasons for the rejection of the Holocaust Memorial proposal by Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, was that the nearby site has the “structural integrity” to handle the added weight of the memorial and other planned monuments. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, ordering the clearing of the Senate seating gallery because of repeated outbursts from audience members opposed to the bill.

The photos were taken inside the Warsaw Ghetto by a 23-year-old Polish firefighter as the Nazis were brutally crushing the Jewish uprising of 1943. The photos were discovered in a family collection.

A Holocaust-era boxcar is on display at a South Fort Myers private school and will be there through thewhole month of November.