Jews captured by SS and SD troops during the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising are forced to march to the Umschlagplatz for deportation. The SD trooper, second from right, is SS-Rottenfuehrer Josef Bloesche, who was identified by authorities using this photograph. He was tried for war crimes by an East German court in 1969, sentenced to death and executed in July of that year. The little girl at left has been identified as Hanka Lamet, standing next to her mother, Matylda Lamet Goldfinger (the woman second from the left). The boy carrying the sack has been identified as Leo Kartuzinsky and the woman in the front has been identified as Chana Zeilinwarger. Numerous people have identified the boy in the foreground as either Arthur Domb Semiontek, Israel Rondel, Tsvi Nussbaum or Levi Zeilinwarger, but none of these identifications can be corroborated. [ U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum | National Archives and Records Administration ]
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World War II museum remembers the Holocaust

Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum in Carrabelle in April is presenting an exhibit to remember the Holocaust, Hitler’s program to commit genocide against those he deemed unworthy, especially Europe’s Jews. 

This exhibit is on display at the museum until Saturday, April 27. The museum is open every Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no charge for admission, but donations are gladly accepted.

Beginning in 1933, the German government established prison, labor, concentration, and extermination camps throughout their territories, including in countries they occupied before and during the war. Groups that were arrested and detained included Roma, Communists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, the disabled and especially Jews. Some 12 million people perished in the more than 44,000 facilities, ghettos and killing fields across Europe, including six million Jews. 

SS troops walk past a block of burning housing during the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, which was from April 19 to May 16, 1943. [ U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum | National Archives and Records Administration ]

The museum acknowledges the need for all citizens to understand this dark period of history, what caused it, who perpetrated it, and how some resisted and fought their captors. Eyewitnesses such as survivors and the soldiers that liberated these camps are aging and dying, but many have told their stories. Visitors are invited to come see this sobering exhibit, and help society remember those that were victims of atrocity, prejudice, and hate.



The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar and marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising which started on April 19, 1943.

In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah. In 2024, Yom HaShoah will be recognized beginning at sunset on the evening of Sunday. May 5 through Monday, May 6.

The museum is located directly across from Carrabelle Public Beach Park at 1873 Hwy 98 West. For more information, contact the museum at (850) 697-8575 or museum@campgordonjohnston.com. Funded in part by the Franklin County Tourist Development Council.

An American soldier drives past buildings set afire by survivors after the SS evacuated the Ohrdruf concentration camp in Germany on April 6, 1945. [ U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum | National Archives and Records Administration ]


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Meet the Editor

David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.

Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.

Wendy Weitzel The Star Digital Editor

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