New Community-wide Project Focused on Lessons of the Holocaust
August 23, 2022
Quad Cities – Anne Frank is one of the most discussed Jewish victims of Holocaust and her diary is one of the world’s best-known books. Her words tell of her life when she and her family hid for two years from the Nazis. What Anne Frank documents in her diary represents millions of people who never got the chance to share what tragically happened to them during the Holocaust.
On Friday, September 2, 2022, the “Anne Frank: A History for Today” exhibit opens at the Putnam Museum and Science Center, 1717 W. 12th St. in Davenport, Iowa. The opening of the new exhibit marks the launch of programming in the Quad Cities community-wide initiative called Out of Darkness: Holocaust Messages for Today.
Out of Darkness: Holocaust Messages for Today is a collaborative effort of cultural organizations, educators, libraries and sponsors in the Quad Cities working together to promote dignity, diversity, equity, democratic values, human rights, and the power of the human spirit that are so badly needed today. The project includes programming at various venues through the end of 2022. Through music and art, lectures and movies, dance and exhibits, we learn from the past. An event calendar can be found at https://www.outofdarknessqc.com/programs.html.
The Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities is the project presenter and was instrumental in securing funding to support exhibits, live performances and additional programming that is suited for adults and children.
The media and tourism professionals are invited to the private opening of “Anne Frank A History for Today” on Thursday, September 1 at 6:00 p.m. at the Putnam in Davenport, Iowa. Program presenters will have tables showcasing their events, performances and activities, and speakers have been invited to talk about their experience with the Holocaust to remind us that history must never repeat.
On loan from the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, the “Anne Frank: A History for Today” exhibit provides an in-depth look into the life and world of Anne Frank as represented in her diary. Along with period photographs and supplemental materials, the collection honors the memory of Anne Frank and raises awareness of the Nazi era and the Holocaust. It will be on display until October 30, 2022.
Some events of note during this community-wide initiative.
- October 8 – Ballet Quad Cities performs at the Adler Theatre. Original choreography by Courtney Lyon and Emily Kate Long are set to a series of short pieces by Jewish composers who died in the camps. Most of these composers, their works, despite their first-rank quality, have been largely forgotten except by a small group of knowledgeable people.
- October 22 – New opera performance at Augustana College. Chamber opera in two acts based on the true stories of two Holocaust survivors: Krystyna Zywulska and Gad Beck with libretto by Gene Scheer.
- German American Heritage Center has two new exhibits opening in early October. One is “Witness To The Holocaust: The Mattes Family Letters” shares the story of Markus and Anna Mattes, a Polish Jewish couple who moved to Mainz, Germany, in 1908 to raise their family. Through family pictures, documents, maps, and first-hand accounts in letters written by members of the Mattes family, we learn of the couple's witness to the beginnings of the Holocaust, and their desperate attempts to escape Nazi Germany and join their children who found a home in the Quad Cities.
The Quad Cities is a family of communities located on the Mississippi River. The area is just a 2-½ hour drive from Des Moines, Iowa, and Chicago, Illinois. It is easily accessible via I-80, I-74, I-88 and several major state highways.
Founded in 1990, Visit Quad Cities is the official Destination Management and Marketing Organization (DMMO) for the region. Visit Quad Cities is a private 501(c)(6) non-profit engine charged with driving economic opportunity through tourism, improves quality of life and markets the Quad Cities brand by attracting visitors, meetings/conventions, sporting events, and group tours to the area. For more information, visit us online at www.visitquadcities.com, call 800-747-7800 and be sure to connect with us on social media.
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Media Contact: Allan Ross, Executive Director Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, [email protected], 309.793.1300