By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Nearly 100 years have passed since some 6 million Jewish people were killed in the Holocaust. All these years later, questions still persist: What could Europeans have done to stop the rise of Nazism in Germany, and what was the United States' role in the greatest tragedy of all time? The "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibit examines some of those questions and answers. Ellinwood School-Community Librarian Sheri Holmes said the exhibit will be making a stop in Ellinwood from Dec. 5 through Jan. 10.
"The first time we submitted it, we were not selected, but we were a top-five runner-up," Holmes said. "The exhibit traveled to 50 different places in the United States on its first tour. We are actually in the second tour, now."
The exhibit is sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association. Amy Hammeke with the Ellinwood Library was instrumental in completing an application to bring the exhibit to the community. Ellinwood will be just one of three libraries in Kansas to host "Americans and the Holocaust."
"The fact that we're a school-community library was special to the United States Holocaust Museum," Holmes said. "I think that's how we got it is because of the uniqueness of our library being a school and community library."
A few other activities will accompany the exhibit. Also from Dec. 5 through Jan. 10, the Ellinwood Library will host a Camp Concordia exhibit. Camp Concordia held some 4,000 mostly German prisoners just east of Concordia during WWII. The exhibit will feature many artifacts from that time period.
With a grant and assistance from People's Bank, Ellinwood High School and Middle School students received a copy of Andrew Maraniss' book "Games of Deception: The True Story of the First U.S. Olympic Basketball Team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany." Maraniss will be in Ellinwood for a meet-and-greet in the EHS Commons at 5 p.m. on Dec. 9.
On Jan. 6, EHS/EMS will host Holocaust survivor Peter Stern for a special program for students. The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education will also be hosting an educational event to discuss what was possible during the Holocaust, what was done, and why those decisions were made based on American motives, pressures, and fears. Those events will take place via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. on Dec. 8, Dec. 15, and Jan. 15.