The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum has announced a series of upcoming virtual programs entitled, “Why This Matters.” The series will examine crucial issues relevant to the Museum’s mission to use the history and lessons of the Holocaust to reject hatred, promote understanding, and inspire change. The four virtual programs will take place on separate evenings in August at 6:30 p.m.

The programs are as follows:

• Aug. 5 – Defining Antisemitism and Why it Matters 

Director of Government Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center Mark Weitzman will discuss antisemitism and its contemporary global rise.

• Aug. 10 – The Vital Need for Holocaust Education 

Ariel Behrman of Anti-Defamation League and Jesse Tannetta of Echoes & Reflections will look at the vital need for Holocaust education locally and nationally and the concerning rise in the lack of Holocaust knowledge among young people.

• Aug. 19 – Context Means Everything: Questions We Might Ask Each Time We Access Media

Founder and President of Gateway Media Literacy Partnership, Inc., Jessica Brown-Billhymer, will discuss the importance of media literacy and ways to critically analyze and access media.

• Aug. 26 – Why Our Region Needs a Holocaust Museum: Introducing the new St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum 

World-renowned museum designer Patrick Gallagher will provide a sneak peek at the planned expansion of the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. This program will mark the first time updated expansion plans and renderings will be revealed to the St. Louis community.

“We’re excited to share a glimpse of the new St. Louis Kaplan Holocaust Museum with the community and launch important discussions on issues like antisemitism and media literacy,” Don Hannon, acting museum executive director, said in a statement. “When we reopen in summer 2022, we look forward to welcoming visitors back to a new, world-class institution and continuing to foster crucial discussions about contemporary events that impact our region and beyond.”

All four programs are free and open to the public. Following each presentation, the speakers will take questions from the virtual audience. For more information and to register, please visit: https://stlholocaustmuseum.org/why-this-matters/.

The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, a department of Jewish Federation of St. Louis, is dedicated to using the history and lessons of the Holocaust to reject hatred, promote understanding, and inspire change. The museum currently provides virtual educational programming as it undergoes a $21 million expansion. The new  institution is set to open in mid-2022.