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Zekelman Holocaust Tour: A Journey of Reflection and Learning
January 20, 2025
On Sunday, January 6, 2025 the Education Committee of the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit (the IFLC) sponsored a tour of the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills. Thirty-two people were registered for this event, a wonderful mixture of people with diverse faith traditions coming together to learn with each other!
We were fortunate to have Anne Klinsman as our docent, as she provided the group with an impactful and meaningful tour of the museum.
While the tour took about one hour, Anne could only provide a quick overview of the entire contents of the museum in that time span. There’s still so much to see!
Although we were expecting to have Irene Miller, a Holocaust survivor, as our speaker, she was not able to do her presentation that day. In her absence we heard Daniel Baum tell the story of his grandfather, Henry Garfield.
Henry’s parents, in an effort to save their children, sent some of them to the United States and some to England, but the youngest son and the rest of the family perished in the Holocaust. Daniel told of the challenges his grandfather endured when coming as a young child to the United States. Daniel proudly stated that his grandfather ended up in the U.S. air force. He also showed a photograph taken on the block where his grandfather first lived in Detroit.as.
The IFLC group found this two hour experience very powerful. People of different faith traditions learned so much together about the personal tragedies that occurred in the Holocaust.
This visit exemplified the heart of the Education Committee’s mission: creating opportunities for meaningful learning that inspire empathy and connection across differences. Events like this are vital reminders of the importance of understanding and honoring our shared humanity.
Stay tuned for more compelling opportunities to learn, grow, and connect in the coming months. The IFLC remains committed to offering programs that deepen our collective appreciation of diverse faiths and cultures.
