Event to honor damaged museum

Batchelor Middle School and Bloomington United will host "Eva Moses Kor and the CANDLES Museum -- The Bloomington Community Response" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. The event will serve as a medium for a community reaction to the November 2003 arson of the Terre Haute CANDLES Museum (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Experiments Survivors), a memorial to the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust.\nThe event's keynote speaker, Eva Moses Kor, founded the museum in 1995 to help educate visitors about the Holocaust. A survivor of Poland's Auschwitz concentration camp, along with her twin sister, Kor was tortured by Auschwitz's "Death Angel," Dr. Josef Mengele. Now Kor and the Bloomington community wish to speak out against the hate encouraged by the CANDLES arson, which is still under investigation.\nA documentary made by students from Batchelor Middle School will also be shown as part of the response and will be made available for purchase. "Evil Exposed -- the Tragedy of the Holocaust" features the CANDLES Museum and interviews from Kor and other Holocaust survivors.\nBatchelor principal Peggy Chambers said students traveled to Terre Haute to interview Kor last October to learn about the Holocaust as part of their curriculum. Their documentary won several awards including the 25th Anniversary Telly Award, a 2003 Communicator Award, a 2003 Videographer Award and other international recognition.\n"A real bond formed between the children and Mrs. Kor," Chambers said. "Her belief (is) that if you want to change the world, you have to start with the children."\nBecause of this newfound common ground, Chambers said students were upset when CANDLES burned in November. As a means to further educate and help students understand the gravity of the arson, Chambers said Batchelor arranged for Kor to speak at the school -- which then evolved into an all-encompassing community event scheduled for later in the evening.\n"We're honored she's coming to visit us to share her message," Chambers said. "It will be outstanding for our students."\nRabbi Sue Shifron of IU's Helene G. Simon Hillel Center, a co-sponsor for the event, said the encouraged community involvement is essential to eradicating hate.\n"We feel it's very important for the community to learn about the Holocaust," Shifron said. "It's a good opportunity to hear Mrs. Kor and to remember about the Holocaust and the lessons learned.\n"Hate unchallenged is hate allowed to grow. We can't be apathetic. When one suffers, we all suffer," she said.\nOther co-sponsors for the free event include the Bloomington Human Rights Commission, the Commission on Multicultural Understanding, IU's Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services, the CommUNITY Education Program, the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, La Casa Latino Cultural Center and the Asian Culture Center.\nMarsha Bradford, director of the Mayor's Safe and Civil City Program, also encouraged everyone to attend the event.\n"It's a great opportunity to talk about these issues in the community," Bradford said. "It's always important to respond to hate in a productive and proactive way."\n-- Contact staff writer Jackie Corgan at jcorgan@indiana.edu.