About the HHRC

The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine grew out of a seminar, "Teaching About the Nazi Holocaust in Maine Schools," held at Bowdoin College in 1984. The participants found the seminar to be a powerful and compelling commentary on the fragility of democracy. They resolved to carry on the work. Under the leadership of Gerda Haas, herself a survivor and author of a book on the Holocaust, they formed the Holocaust Human Rights Center of Maine.

Incorporated in 1985, the mission of the HHRC is to educate about the Holocaust, to advocate for human rights and dignity, and to celebrate diversity. Its goal is to teach lessons which can be learned from the Holocaust about what can happen when basic human rights are destroyed.

The HHRC is a nonprofit, nonsectarian, and nonpartisan organization guided by an interfaith Board of Directors. The HHRC is a 501(c)(3) organization and your gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

Gifts may be sent to:

In its various programs, the HHRC works to reduce prejudice, teach critical thinking, and empower Maine students not to be bystanders but to take an active role in creating a more humane society.

The HHRC has twenty-four board members and a full-time executive director with secretarial support 32 hours per week. The HHRC serves the entire state of Maine, including children and adults. Every K-12 school, private and public, has the opportunity to receive free resource guides developed by the HHRC. Seminars and workshops are conducted throughout the state. Feature events are held in Augusta and Portland, where our membership base is the strongest.

The HHRC is located on the University of Maine at Augusta campus in the Michael Klahr Center, named for a child Holocaust survivor.  The center houses  permanent and temporary exhibit space, office space, classrooms and a research area.

The HHRC has undertaken many significant projects to help reduce prejudice in our state. The Center:

• Signed an agreement with the Maine Department of Education, the Maine State Library and the University of Maine System to develop and promote curricular materials dealing with the Holocaust and human rights issues.
• Produced Maine Survivors Remember the Holocaust, an Emmy-nominated documentary.
• Published The Spirit That Moves Us, a literature-based resource guide teaching about diversity, prejudice, human rights and the Holocaust, Volume I for teachers of grades K-4, Volume II for teachers of grades 5-8, and Volume III for high school and college.
• Sponsors workshops on using The Spirit That Moves Us.
• Sponsors annual week-long residential summer seminars for educators.
• Sponsors annual Diversity Leadership Institutes for teenagers.
• Sponsors annual Yom HaShoah (Days of Remembrance) commemorations.
• Maintains a lending library of print and videotapes available at the Maine State Library.
• Published a bibliography of Holocaust-related materials for Maine Students.
• Compiled, in conjunction with Yale University, videotaped oral histories of Holocaust survivors, liberators, and children of survivors who live in Maine.
• Established and maintains a Speakers' Bureau through which Holocaust survivors, children of survivors, liberators, other human rights lecturers are available to speak to students and church and community groups throughout the state.
• Recognizes Maine citizens through the following annual awards: The Take A Stand Award, Outstanding Student of the Year Award, and the Holocaust Educator of the Year Award.

Dr. Robert Bernheim, Executive Director
Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine
Michael Klahr Center
University of Maine at Augusta
46 University Drive
Augusta, Maine 04330-1644
(207) 621-3530
infohhrc@maine.edu

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