Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2002 | 8:23 a.m.
The books and posters that line the walls of the Sperling-Mack-Kronberg Holocaust Resource Library reveal more than history.
They reveal hate, genocide and racism that occurred during the Nazi reign of Germany and Europe during World War II.
They also reveal quiet strength, honor and courage by the people who survived the Holocaust. The purpose of the library at 2317 Renaissance Drive, near East Tropicana and South Eastern avenues, is to show how intolerance can build to grand-scale homicide, Carole Helfand, librarian at the Holocaust Resource Library, said.
"The Holocaust is a story that is happening now," Helfand said. "People still aren't kind to each other. We have to learn to be careful with each other and be aware of what is happening around us."
The library was created in 1999 through donations of funds, personal items and books from local members of the Jewish Federation.
It continues to be fueled today by documents and authentic articles from Holocaust survivors, government funds and private donations.
In the center of the 500-square-foot library looms an authentic map of Nazi-controlled Europe in the '40s, which was donated by a patron of the library. The brightly colored map shows the occupation of Switzerland, Poland and surrounding countries with the number of Jews exterminated and the exact location of each concentration camp.
"If you see the materials, these authentic articles, you can't deny that it happened," Helfand said.
To tell the story of the Holocaust is to never forget, said Anita Schuster, co-president of the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada.
The Holocaust Survivors Group uses the library frequently, Schuster said. More books detailing the history of the Holocaust are constantly added or willed to the library.
willed to the library.
"Their resources on the Holocaust are very interesting. They have a lot of visuals (documentary movies) that really makes it hit home."
The library often offers closure for those searching for answers, Helfand said.
In the center of the library is a long, worn wooden table used by those who come and research their history at the library. They come with scraps of information -- stories that were passed down, a number that was tattooed on a relative or a name of a concentration camp.
"They come here and sit down and sometimes they find the number of the relative they were looking for," Helfand said. "They need to be able to move on. That's what happens here."
But the primary objective of the library, Helfand said, is to teach.
Nevada has supported Holocaust education through state funds. The funds nourish the library with interesting objects from World War II and updated books.
That support is most prevalent in the teaching room -- a room for teachers to learn more about the Holocaust to take to the classroom or bring a group of students.
Placed around the small room are objects that children can reach out and touch or view to understand the reality of the Holocaust.
On a wall above a stack of books is a large, wooden yellow star, a symbol Jews wore on their sleeves in Germany in World War II. Surrounding the star is rusted barbwire from Auschwitz.
In a glass case sits a teapot from Oskar Schindler's enamelware factory, where hundreds of Jewish people were saved from the concentration camps. Beside the red pot is a Nazi helmet and uniform and a camera used to photograph prisoners as they entered the concentration camps.
On the wall above the television in the teaching room is a framed sticker for Zyklon gas, which was used in the gas chambers of the concentration camps.
"It's not enough to just read about it," Helfand said.
The library recently started the Trunk Program. Teachers may come to the library and, with four hours of training, take a complete suitcase full of books, movies and posters to the classroom and teach their students about the Holocaust.
The library teaches children about more than one particular historical tragedy, said Karla McComb, director of social studies, safe and drug-free schools program and the multicultural education program for the Clark County School District.
It teaches the outcome of hatred and racism.
"It isn't just historical materials, it's about learning to get along, to get rid of racism," McComb said. "The library is such a strong resource because it has other human rights' resources, not just the Holocaust."
The library is used as an extension of Holocaust education in area schools, McComb said. The materials are also used in conjunction with CCSD's violence prevention program.
"We are very lucky to have that complete of a library in Las Vegas," McComb said. "I don't know of a lot of cities where I have seen such an extensive resource library."
Throughout the library are objects, pictures and pieces of art depicting the Holocaust. It is meant to be a cultural resource as well as a literary one, Helfand said.
But possibly one of the more important nooks in the library is that reserved for future generations. The children's corner of the library holds books that teach children the story of the Holocaust through allegory.
"It's important that kids understand, not just about the Holocaust, but how not to hate," Helfand said.
Parents are encouraged to bring their children to the library if they are interested in teaching their children about the Holocaust, but don't want to expose them to the shocking details.
"We try to have nothing horrific," Helfand said. "We don't want to show them piles of bones. We want them to understand through the stories not to hate someone who is different."
That lesson is why the Holocaust library is needed today and in the future, Helfand said.
"We must never forget," she said. "You can't shut out history."
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