Design Proposals
As we commemorate our 40th anniversary, we are look back at the incredible amount of energy, innovation and passion from so many to create and build this organization. We are planning a gala event, creating a timeline, posting blogs from some of the interviews we've enjoyed, and spending time in the storage closet. One of the major achievements was of course building the Michael Klahr Center. This week Tam pulled out the storyboards of design submissions from architects around the world and put them up for display. It is fascinating—so many thoughtful, ambitious proposals. Choosing must have been challenging indeed. We encourage you to visit us and take a look at the many creative ideas on how to build a repository for stories, a cultural center, a place to gather that might be hopeful after the darkest of times. While you're in the Center you can see the permanent collection of Judith Glickman Lauder's moving photographs from her trips through Germany and Poland's concentration camps. And experience the voices and photographs of four Holocaust survivors: Michael Klahr, Tamara Fineberg, Gerda Haas and Manfred Kelman.
A Pysanky Workshop
On Saturday morning, Artist Lesia Sochor offered a Pysanky workshop. Lesia explained the significance of this ancient, spiritual tradition of decorating eggs using colorful designs steeped in symbolism. She described the magical powers of a Pysanka, believed to bring good luck, protection, health, and love. They were placed around homes and yards to ward off bad luck, exchanged as gifts, and cherished by future generations. Lesia demonstrated the important steps to create a Pysanka, which the group did, gaining a deep appreciation for just how much practice and talent is required to create the gorgeous ones she had brought as examples (including an ostrich egg). This springtime tradition of rebirth and renewal in Ukraine, especially during Easter holidays, dates back to 5,000 B.C. We are so grateful to Lesia for her ongoing generosity. She has loaned us her own pysankys for display in the center and paintings for two exhibits—Babushka and her Repair series now on display. Lesia has given three egg-dyeing workshops and will engage students in the restorative, ancient art of repair in a class next month. We are so fortunate to collaborate with such a talented, generous, and joyful woman.
Reuse, Repair, Reconsider
Maine Artist Lesia Sochor’s Reuse, Repair, Reconsider Series is now on display in the Michael Klahr Center. The artwork explores the healing power of restoration and repair. She writes, "A humble act born of necessity, repair at one time was a common sense, commonplace task among the populace. The ever increasing consumer driven addiction for more, for new, and newer, adequate and fixable goods are simply discarded contributing to our threatened environment. I use a needle and thread as a representation to investigate mending as an intervention, as metaphor, as a call to action. Not only to restore material things, but as an intention to mend the fractured parts of ourselves, the divisiveness, cruelty, and injustices of our ruptured world one stitch at a time." Lesia has been a generous collaborator and friend to the HHRC community. She loaned us her Babushka and Pysanky paintings to grace the walls of the Michael Klahr Center, and will, for the third year, offer the popular Pysanky egg decorating workshop in the spring. Lesia is a prolific, imaginative, thoughtful artist delightful women. Thank you Lesia!
Summer Seminars
Both seminars takes will take place at the Holocaust & Human Rights Center on the UMA campus.
Teaching the Holocaust
8:30 am to 4:00 pm on July 16th and 17th. Come join other Maine educators as we contemplate and grapple with the Holocaust and the questions that it raises. The state of Maine mandates that schools teach the history of the Holocaust and genocide. At the same time, the dramatic rise in antisemitism in the United States and elsewhere makes it more important than ever to bring the lessons of the Holocaust into the classroom. The seminar will cover a wide variety of topics to help teachers understand not just the events of the Holocaust, but the wider context that allowed it to happen. While the sessions will provide teachers with information, resources, and activities that can easily be incorporated into history and social studies classes, it will also show how this information can be brought into classes on government, civics, and literature. Participants can receive 12 continuing education credits upon completion of the seminar. Register here.
Building Supportive Schools
8:30 am to 4:30 pm on July 23rd and 24th. Join other passionate educators committed to creating strong and supportive schools! This two-day seminar will equip you with the knowledge and tools to challenge racism, antisemitism, and anti-LGBTQ+ hate in your school. Through meaningful discussions, insights from teachers and community leaders, and workshops with fantastic organizations, you’ll gain strategies to foster a safer, more supportive learning environment. Be ready to engage, collaborate, and leave inspired! Please register only if you are able to attend the seminar in its entirety. Designed for educators, administrators, school staff, and pre-service teachers, this seminar prioritizes their registration. Participants can earn 14 continuing education credits upon full completion of the seminar. Register here.
Black Mainers: A History of Resistance and Resilience
We are excited to announce that our newest educational program, Black Mainers: A History of Resistance and Resilience, is complete and ready to bring into schools. The research, writing, slideshow creation, and piloting has taken almost a year—time well spent, and we are creating a lesson-plan booklet for teachers to use after our visit. This program looks at the period leading up to World War I. It is not meant to give a comprehensive history of the Black experience in Maine but rather a complement and supplement the work that teachers are already doing in their classrooms. The primary ideas that we hope students take away from this program center around Black Mainers persistence, resilience, and resistance to oppression by demonstrating that African Americans have actively resisted racism and inequity in their lives and throughout Maine’s history. This program does this by focusing on individuals and their stories.
Please help us spread the word about this important tradition, an integral piece of our education offerings and a meaningful way to honor the mission and vision of those who created the HHRC 39 years ago. The awards ask students to think deeply about their personal experiences relating to the Holocaust and human rights, encouraging self reflection and commitment to the values we uphold and teach. Below are descriptions of the opportunities with links to the applications. The deadline to submit is May 1, 2025.
The Lawrence Alan Spiegel Remembrance Scholarship ($1,000) is awarded annually to the high school senior who authors the prize-winning, original essay on the prompt: “Learning about the Holocaust affected my view of the world and it is important for others to learn about it too.” Criteria: originality of voice and viewpoint, structure, command of language and mechanics. The photo is of Cohen Parker, the 2024 Spiegel Award Recipient. Apply here.
The Mathilde Schlossberger Outstanding Student of the Year Award recognizes an exceptional piece of original writing, fiction or non-fiction, or an unusually expressive piece of visual or performance art relating tApply for a Scholarshipo human rights. The award was created by Florence and Kurt Strauss of Portland in memory of Kurt’s maternal grandmother, who was murdered at Theresienstadt. Apply here.
Were The House Still Standing
Your generous contribution supports our work: building brave and welcoming communities by promoting universal respect for human rights through education, outreach and cultural experiences. This ambitious goal takes many forms. We offer sixteen educational programs to Maine students, sponsor talks and performances, curate exhibits, house valuable archives, showcase multi-media stories from survivors, and invite all visitors into the beautiful Michael Klahr Center. To preserve the oral testimonies of Holocaust survivors and liberators living in Maine, In 2005 the HHRC commissioned Sculptor Robert Katz to create an 80-minute multimedia installation, a centerpiece of the Michael Klahr Center, entitled Were the House Still Standing. For 18 years visitors have been moved by the stories of personal trauma, tragedy, bravery and resilience told by the survivors, many founders of the HHRC. Now it needs a significant upgrade. We need donations and grants to fulfill this goal. Can you help us?. Please donate here.
A Student Visit
On January 22nd, 69 middle-school students and adults from Maranacook Community Middle School visited the Michael Klahr Center to experience the visiting and permanent exhibits and participate in the educational program "Decision Making in Times of Injustice." Said one student, “"When we learned about it, you could almost see the switch that happened. Jewish sympathizers were treated as badly as Jewish people, and they became afraid to do what was right. Leaders could dehumanize people, and others bought into it." And another, "We learned that people willingly participated in building the camps and providing plumbing and electricity. When they moved Jewish families to run-down buildings, walls were made of the broken tombstones of Jewish people." Wrote Anna afterward, "When you said that a third of Jewish people in the world were killed, that sunk in for students. I am so thankful to you and all of the work being done at the HHRC in Augusta. Now more than ever, examining injustice and how it begins is needed." Thank you to Anna, the teachers and students who made time to experience what the HHRC offers. We hope to have you back soon.
Open for Rentals
The beautiful Michael Klahr Center is open for rentals. The space offers a large classroom for presentations and meetings with zoom and projection capabilities; a sun-filled atrium for receptions; a 75-seat auditorium for talks and gatherings; and rotating exhibits of photography, artwork, collage, wood assemblages and immersive multimedia testimonials from Holocaust survivors. We can recommend quality local food service and assist with equipment set-up and tours. This is a wonderful venue for classes, presentations, gatherings, film screenings, and celebrations. The rate for rentals is $250 for a weekday, but we are open to accommodations as needed. If you would like more information, or to reserve the space, email the HHRC at info@hhrcmaine.org.
The Archive Project
The HHRC has a longstanding and rich collection of artifacts related to the Holocaust and civil rights. Last year we began to archive these valuable objects, assigning each one a number and category, storing them in professional archive containers, and using protective display cases in the Michael Klahr Center for our visitors to enjoy without fear of causing damage to the artifacts. The next step, for which we received funding from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, involves two separate and yet connected projects. The first is a workshop for teachers to familiarize themselves with the Holocaust artifacts that we have at the HHRC and how to use them (digitally) in their classrooms. The second involves creating individual programs that center on specific objects. So far we have written three: one is based around a child’s shoe found at one of the camps; one focuses on currency from the Lodz ghetto; and the third explores letters from a Berlin doctor Hans Muehsam written to his cousin in New York as he desperately sought help obtaining a visa to leave Germany and emigrate to the United States.
Hours & Directions
We are open from 8:00–4:00 Monday through Friday and welcome visitors.
Please call ahead to be sure we are open when you arrive. The Center calendar aligns with the University of Maine at Augusta, so check for holidays and inclement weather closures on the UMA website.
We are housed in The Michael Klahr Center located at the University of Maine, Augusta. Our address is 46 University Drive, Augusta, Maine. Click on the map image for a detailed map of the UMA campus.
From the South: Take I-295 N/US-1 North toward Augusta. Take exit 112A, stay right at the intersection to merge onto ME-8 South. Tavel 0.6 miles then turn right onto University Drive. At the top of hill, bear right and into the parking lot.
From the North: Take 95 South toward Augusta. Take exit 112, merge onto ME-8 South. Travel 0.7 miles then turn right onto University Drive. At the top of hill, bear right and into the parking lot.
For instructions to access the Michael Klahr Center by elevator, click here.
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