ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The I-Team is investigating the rise of white supremacy in Florida in a series we call "State of Hate."
With hate crimes and incidents tied to extremism on the rise, one local organization is replacing hate with hope, one person at a time.
RELATED:
- ABC Action News I-Team launches new series: The Growing State of Hate
- I-Team turns to experts for advice in our 'State of Hate' series
"Horrible, horrible things happened"
"I often say we’re running a race," Florida Holocaust Museum Chairman Mike Igel said. "Who’s gonna get to that person’s ear first?"
The ABC Action News I-Team talked to him in front of the centerpiece of the museum’s 20,000 artifact collection: a train car that was used to haul thousands of Jews to concentration and death camps.
When the box car was restored, a child’s ring was found wedged between the boards.
“Horrible, horrible things happened. People were murdered just for who they were,” Igel said.
Igel is concerned that if we don’t learn from history, history could repeat itself.
“Statistics show there is a relative increase in anti-Semitic activity and anti-Semitic behavior,” Igel said.
The Anti-Defamation League reported incidents targeting Florida’s estimated 650,000 Jewish residents were up 50% last year.
The courage of strangers
For Igel it’s personal. He carries photos of his grandparents, holocaust survivors Henry Ferber and Stanley and Lucia Igel, to remind him he owes his life to the kindness and bravery of strangers in Poland decades ago.
“My grandparents were saved by non-Jewish people who didn’t have to do what they did," Igel said. "They hid my grandparents. The people were ultimately arrested for it, were tortured for six weeks, but wouldn’t give up my grandparents. And they were executed for what they did. I wouldn’t be here without that."
The World Holocaust Remembrance Center has added the names of those brave people, Michel and Katarzyna Gerula, to The Righteous Among the Nations list of those who helped Jews during World War II.
A third person, Roman Segelin, has also been nominated for inclusion on the list for his role in helping save Igel’s grandparents.
The Florida Holocaust Museum displays images of Nazi propaganda from the 1930s and 1940s as a warning. Igel believes people should be educated about the meaning of those hate symbols.
“Most people say 'I had no idea. I don’t want to be part of that anymore,'" he said.
But swastikas are increasingly turning up in Florida on fliers, on flags at demonstrations, and even tattooed on the neck of a self-proclaimed skinhead arrested for beating a Jewish University of Central Florida student at a neo-Nazi demonstration in Orlando earlier this year.
He told a detective he didn’t know any Jewish people but was turned against them in prison. During interrogation, the suspect stated that he goes to "anything that's pro-white to see what it's about."
Igel said it’s important to reach people like him.
"You do your best to penetrate your way in through the education, saying 'Do you know what that is on your neck? Do you know what that means? Do you know what that stands for? Have you ever met someone who’s Jewish before? I’m happy to introduce myself to you. Let’s chat,'" Igel said.
Using technology to educate people
While white supremacists use the internet and technology like live streaming on social media to spread hate, the Holocaust Museum is using technology too.
“It’s about all of us being the louder voice,” Igel said.
The museum offers virtual visits and even a chance to ask questions to a virtual Holocaust survivor, thanks to an invention created with support from Steven Spielberg.
“Dimensions in Testimony” uses artificial intelligence to allow people to interact with a hologram of a Holocaust survivor.
The Florida Holocaust Museum features a display with Mary Wygodski, who was born in Poland in 1925.
“You can ask her about any question," Igel said. "There’s a week worth of intense interviews that are done with the survivors."
“I was sent to a working camp in Riga, Latvia,” she shared after we asked her about her experience.
Wygodski survived three camps, moved to St. Petersburg, and was Igel’s kindergarten teacher. Her hologram will teach future visitors to the museum forever.
When asked why it was important to educate people about the Holocaust, Wygodski pointed to history.
“They should know what happened in the past and learn from the past,” she said.
Igel said just like the strangers who saved his grandparents, you can play a role in fighting hate.
“There are so many little things you can do and there are big things you can do," he said. "But the key is to take some form of action. Just do something."
You can contact the Florida Holocaust Museum for more information about volunteer opportunities.
"What to do if you are victimized or see a hate crime?"
If you are a victim of or witness a hate crime, you should reach out to your local law enforcement immediately.
You can also report the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
You can also report the incident to the Anti-Defamation League on the organization's website.
Organizations Fighting Hate Groups & Resources
- NAACP - Hillsborough County
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- Anti-Defamation League
- United States Department of Justice
- DOJ Civil Rights Groups Resources
If you have a story you think the I-Team should investigate, email us at adam@abcactionnews.com
