“Through Hell to the Midwest:” Mapping Holocaust Survival in Kansas City

April 4, 2024 at 1:30 pm
FHSU Memorial Union, Trails Room
Available on Zoom

“Through Hell to the Midwest” is a mapping project that traces the stories of over 40 survivors who settled in the Kansas City area. Using oral history testimony collected by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education and located in the Fortunoff Archives, Amber Nickell, Hollie Marquess, and Sarah Keiss have mapped these survivors and their experiences. Each map tells the story of one Holocaust survivor, tracing their steps from their hometowns in Central and Eastern Europe, through the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and in hiding, to their new lives in Kansas and Missouri.

Amber, Hollie, and Sarah will discuss their project and demonstrate how the interactive StoryMaps illustrate each survivor’s experience. Jessica Rockhold, Executive Director of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, will join them to discuss this project and its implications for Holocaust Remembrance and Education.

This program is offered as part of Holocaust in the Heartland – the third annual Hays Holocaust Remembrance and Education Month sponsored by Fort Hays State University, Hays Public Library, Forsyth Library, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and FHSU Department of History and Philosophy.