PEOPLE Leslie DavisMet Director, Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio O cials with the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio began the year by naming Leslie Davis Met as the new director. Davis Met joined the museum in April 2021 as interim director, a position she also held a decade ago. Born and raised in the San Antonio area, Davis Met studied at Syracuse and Brandeis universities, the latter of which is where she earned master’s degrees in Jewish communal service and nonpro t management. Davis Met recently talked with Community Impact Newspaper about e orts to educate the public about the Holocaust and how that historic event remains relevant today. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. BY EDMOND ORTIZ
Leslie Davis Met is now serving as director of the Holocaust Memorial Museumof San Antonio after two stints as interimdirector. (Edmond Ortiz/Community Impact Newspaper)
About theHolocaustMemorial Museumof SanAntonio
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE HOLOCAUSTMEMORIAL MUSEUMOF SANANTONIO? This job has actually been some- thing I’ve always wanted to do. My training is in nonpro t management and in Jewish community service. I spent seven years working for the Jewish Community Relations Council in Dallas, and I knew of their museum, which was small at the time, somewhat similar to ours. When my husband and I moved to San Antonio, I had two small chil- dren, so this job was not the right job for me at the time. Both of my children are away at school now, and so it was just the right time. It’s a passion of mine and meaningful. My husband’s parents were born in [displaced persons camps]. This was a calling. HOWDO YOU APPLY YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE AS THEMUSEUMDIRECTOR? One of the things that I’ve gained a lot, not only frommy academic training but from watching people around me, is guring out what is most meaningful in terms of how to approach the community. To me, the communal aspect—maximizing communal resources in addition to bringing together the right people to help guide you—has been my approach to guring this all out. HOWDO YOU PROMOTE THE MUSEUM IN THE COMMUNITY? There are a few ways that we’re doing [this]. Obviously, things shifted a lot over the last couple of years with kids not being in school, and this [museum] was developed as a student program. Most of our com- munication has been with educators and school administrators. One of the
things that we’re trying to do a better job at is getting the word out that we’re here. We’re trying to develop and increase our programming, training and our online resources as well as our classroom resources in terms of traveling exhibits [and] things like that. We also have a new initiative this spring called Heroes for Humanity. We created this initiative to reach out more into the business community and let them know we are here. We’ve been relatively successful with that. HOWVITAL IS IT TO TEACH ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST? It goes without saying that it is incredibly important, no matter what. It’s important in this society that we’ve been living in the last few years. We’re about 80 years out from the end of the Holocaust now, and a lot of kids don’t even know what it is. You ask them about it and the only thing they may even think about is Anne Frank, if you’re lucky. HOWDOES THEMUSEUM RESPOND TOANTISEMITISM? In San Antonio and other parts of the country and the world, we’ve seen a rise in antisemitism. We did see and continue to see antisemitic lea ets dropped in people’s drive- ways. Last November, as we were having a program in the museum with the World A airs Council of San Antonio, a livestream of a tour guide in Auschwitz, Poland, and two children of [Holocaust] survivors here, we had Holocaust deniers and protesters across the street from our campus. The response of the commu- nity to us was astounding. We heard from people all around the city. What we heard was there’s no room for hate in our city.
HMMSA opened in May 2000 on the second oor of the Barshop Jewish Community Center of San Antonio.
The museum o ers on-site and online educational opportunities, tours and special events.
HMMSA is led by a commission comprised of local residents who are interested in the museum and have a desire to share lessons from the Holocaust. Commission members volunteer at the museum.
Masks and social distancing are required for all visitors.
UpcomingHMMSA/Jewish community events YomHashoah community observance A springtime Holocaust Remembrance Day Free admission Congregation Rodfei Sholom APRIL 27 7 8 P.M.
3003 Sholom Drive, San Antonio www.hmmsa.org/yom-hashoah
MAY 04 5 7 P.M.
Heroes for Humanity reception An HMMSA fundraiser recognizing local business “upstanders” Admission includes recognition level, a plaque and credit at the reception: $1,000-$20,000
Witte Museum Mays Family Center 3801 Broadway St., San Antonio https://tinyurl.com/3umc32yb
MAY 10
Discussion of the book “Haven” An online, public Zoom discussion of Ruth Gruber’s book, which recounts Gruber’s e orts to get nearly 1,000 European Jewish refugees secretly and safely to a U.S. safe haven camp during World War II Free registration; donations are accepted https://tinyurl.com/mry2jv2a
6 7:30 P.M.
HolocaustMemorial Museum 12500 NW Military Hwy., San Antonio 210-302-6807 www.hmmsa.org | info@hmmsa.org
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m-3 p.m. and every rst Sun. 1-4 p.m.
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NORTH SAN ANTONIO EDITION • APRIL 2022
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