By Samuel Asher, President
Memory Is Not Passive — It Is an Act of Courage
Spring at the Virginia Holocaust Museum is not simply busy — it is deeply meaningful. Each program, each story, each gathering is a reminder that remembrance is not automatic. It requires intention. It requires community. And it requires all of us.
This season, we invite you to lean in with us.
Eva Kor in Dimensions in Testimony
Throughout the month of March, Holocaust survivor Eva Kor is featured in our Dimensions in Testimony Theater. Eva’s story is one of unimaginable suffering, resilience, and ultimately, radical forgiveness.
Born in Romania, Eva and her identical twin sister, Miriam, were deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Upon arrival, the twins were selected by Dr. Josef Mengele for medical experimentation. Subjected to daily procedures that often left them gravely ill, the sisters endured horrors no child should ever face. They were liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945.
In 1960, Eva married fellow survivor Michael Kor, and together they built a life in Terre Haute, Indiana, raising two children. In 1984, she founded C.A.N.D.L.E.S. (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors) and later established the CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
Eva became widely known for her personal decision to publicly forgive the Nazis — a choice she described not as absolution, but as a path toward her own healing.
👉 Learn more about our Dimensions in Testimony Theater and plan your visit here!
The theater is open daily, with showings on the hour beginning at 11:00 AM and the final showing at 3 p.m. PM. Please allow 30–45 minutes for the experience. Seating is limited and reservations may be made at our front desk.
Education in Action
Our Education and Public Programming departments continues a robust schedule of professional development workshops in March:
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March 9 | 1–2 p.m.
The Night Sparrow Online Book Talk with author Shelly Sanders
👉 Register here! -
March 10 | 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Forgotten Fighters: Women on the WWII Front Lines
👉 Register here! -
March 18 | 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Standing Up in Uncertain Times: Rescue During the Holocaust | Educator Workshop
👉 Register here!
To view our full calendar of programs and workshops, click here!
Looking Ahead: Yom HaShoah – April 19
We are preparing for a powerful Yom HaShoah Commemoration on Sunday, April 19, from 2 –4 p.m. at the Museum.
The program will begin with the solemn lighting of memorial candles by Holocaust survivors and their family members — a sacred act of remembrance and continuity.
This year’s keynote speaker is Miriam Malnik-Ezagui — one of the most widely followed Jewish voices in the world today. An Orthodox Jewish nurse and mother, and a third-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors, her content reaches hundreds of millions annually, generating billions of views. Through candid, deeply personal storytelling, she bridges past and present — bringing Holocaust memory into the digital age with extraordinary reach and influence.
We will conclude the afternoon with a special tribute to our Board Chairman and Founder, Marcus Weinstein, who turns 100 this year. I hope our entire community will join us — not only to remember the six million, but to celebrate a century of leadership, resilience, and enduring commitment to truth.
👉 Reserve your seat for Yom HaShoah click here!
Spring reminds us that renewal is possible. At the Virginia Holocaust Museum, remembrance ensures that renewal is responsible.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Warmly,
Sam