By Eileen Wingard
CHULA VISTA, California — During my daughter Harriet’s recent visit from Portland, Oregon, I suggested we visit the Chula Vista Public Library to see the Holocaust Exhibit arranged by our friend, Sandra Scheller. Harriet teaches Middle School Humanities at the Portland Jewish Academy and one of her classes is learning about the Holocaust.
The drive down from University City was under 25 minutes. Both of us found this visit profoundly worthwhile. Sandra met us there and gave us a private docent tour.
RUTH, Remember Us The Holocaust is at the far right corner of the beautiful, modern Chula Vista Public Library. The various displays behind glass windows are accompanied by explanatory texts in both English and Spanish. Sandra Scheller, whose mother, Ruth, survived three concentration camps and whose father, Kurt Sax, fled the Nazis, designed the exhibit. It contains artifacts Sandra collected from the survivors who live or lived in the South Bay area. In addition to artifacts, the exhibit includes many photographs, letters and documents. There are eyeglasses, replicas of the Jewish “Jude” stars they were forced to sew on their clothes, and suitcases reminiscent of the single suitcase they could take with them when they were deported to concentration camps. A full wall has the photograph of train tracks leading to the gates of Auschwitz.
Sandra did a remarkable job, retelling, on a small scale, the horrific stories of the losses and sufferings of the Holocaust survivors, how they managed to remain alive and, for many, how they were able to thrive.
Of course, Sandra had the largest amount of memorabilia from her own mother, Ruth, who is also seen in a video interview, telling her story.
I knew Ruth and Kurt from Congregation Beth Tefilah, and always loved and admired them and their two daughters, Eva, now a Jewish Renewal rabbi in New York City, and Sandra, who had a career as a mime and a costume technician for Cirque du Soleil. Sandra authored a book about her mother’s life, Try to Remember—Never Forget.
Sandra now devotes most of her time as curator and docent for the exhibit, conducting interviews with local survivors and personally visiting and befriending all whom she knows. Before the pandemic, she also scheduled monthly library programs in connection with the exhibit.
If you have not yet experienced RUTH, one of the first Holocaust exhibits in San Diego County, Harriet and I highly recommend that go see this exhibit. It is recognized by the USC Shoah Foundation and by cultural and educational institutions in Chula Vista and Jewish organizations throughout the county. RUTH will remain until the end of June, 2022.
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Eileen Wingard is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com