The Third Annual Holocaust Education and Awareness Week in Branson, Missouri, will be held April 6–12. Sponsored by the Antisemitism Education Center of the Ozarks, the observance of an annual week of educational events was started in 2023, following then-Gov. Parson’s 2022 signing of a bill committing to the second week of April each year as a focused time of instruction in Missouri schools.
Each annual event focuses on a theme for the week’s events. The theme for 2025 will be “Survivors: Rescuers and Liberators.” An exhibit from Yad VaShem, the Worldwide Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, will be in place at the IMAX Theater Complex throughout the month of April, and the week’s educational opportunities will be centered around a film festival hosted by the IMAX.
Parents should note that the films are appropriate for children 13-plus and adults, with the exception of a special Saturday film for children ages 6–12 and an accompanying adult. Films will be shown in Theater #1 of the complex, with doors opening one hour before each film.
The festival begins Sunday, April 6, with a 2 p.m. showing of “Woman in Gold,” the remarkable true story of heiress Dame Helen Mirren’s struggle for justice and retrieval of valuable art stolen by the Nazis, a seven-year battle that even landed in the U.S. Supreme Court. The film recounts falsified attempts to disconnect the painting from its Jewish identity, but has a brilliant lesson to be learned about justice.
Immediately following this film will be the opening of the Regional Art Exhibit, “The Women of Gold,” and presentation of Branson’s first Public Performance Piano, which will be available throughout April. The piano will be introduced by guest musicians Hadassah Mann (piano) and Arielle Mann (violin). Donated by Clayton Watson and family, the piano features designs painted in a Klimt-like motif. Pianists young and old are invited to stop by and play the piano at the IMAX during April.
On Monday, April 7, at 10 a.m., the theater will host “Never Forget,” the story of American Holocaust survivor Mel Mermelstein who confronted a Holocaust denial organization in court for their lies.
Tuesday’s film, April 8 at 10 a.m., is “Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh.” Don’t miss this story of the “Joan of Arc” of Israel, who at age 22 parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe for a daring military rescue mission for Jews.
If you missed the film “Bonhoeffer” in the theater or want to be re-inspired by it, mark your calendar for Wednesday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m. More Christians and churches need to know the story of this brave pastor, whose knowledge gleaned during a plot to assassinate Hitler motivated him to save both Jews and Christians.
Thursday, April 10, will feature “The Long Way Home” at 10 a.m. This 1997 Academy Award-winning film explores the critical post-World War II period when tens of thousands of refugees who survived the Holocaust attempted to get to the Jewish homeland, as well as world events that led to the creation of the State of Israel, including the reports of Allied liberator soldiers about the horrors they found in the death camps.
The festival wraps up on Saturday, April 12, with a 10 a.m. showing of “Paddington,” the story of a famous bear and his connection to the Holocaust. This film is an age-appropriate way for kids ages 6–12, accompanied by an adult, to begin learning more about this important segment of history. Each family will receive a special keepsake as long as supplies are available. (See Reader’s Corner this issue.)
The Antisemitism Education Center of the Ozarks is directed by Shirah Miriam “Mimi” Aumann, in memory of Holocaust Survivor Moshe Aumann. Mimi will give introductory remarks for several of the films. Learn more about the Center and Moshe’s life and career in both the U.S. and Israel, as well as more details about the film festival, at https://www.aecoedu.org.