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BELLEFONTE -- Mayor Gene "Buddy" Johnson called to attention one of the American Philatelic Society's most recent collections during this week's Bellefonte Borough Council meeting.
Johnson proclaimed the official dedication and opening of "A Philatelic Memorial of the Holocaust" exhibit in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
In 2018, K-12 students of Foxborough completed a nine-year project collecting 11 million stamps representing the victims of the Nazi regime. Donations arrived from Holocaust survivors, their families and others from 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and 29 countries.
Known as the Holocaust Stamps Project, the educational initiative included peer-to-peer teaching tools created by students on various aspects of the Holocaust.
The American Philatelic Society built the exhibit "A Philatelic Memorial of the Holocaust" from the Project's 11 million stamps and educational materials. The exhibit also includes actual postal relics sent to and from concentration camps and ghettos during the Holocaust as well as student artworks.
"(This) exhibit offers the public an opportunity to walk through a timeline of persecution from 1933 to 1945, read postal material sent to and from ghettos and concentration camps, witness the remembrance efforts of individuals and the worldwide community after the Nazi regime's fall," said Johnson.
The initial invitation-only opening of the collection was held on the last day of Jewish-American Heritage Month, May 31, and offered numerous guest speakers as well as refreshments and a tour of the space.
"The Holocaust was Nazi Germany's deliberate, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million European Jews and millions more Soviet prisoners of war, Romany, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and other victims," said Johnson.
"We, as citizens of the City of Bellefonte, should work to promote human dignity and confront hate whenever and wherever it occurs," said Johnson.
APS exhibit coordinator Susanna Mills was in attendance to receive the proclamation.
The exhibit is open to the public now, but there will also be a public open house for "A Philatelic Memorial of the Holocaust" held on June 11, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring discussions of Holocaust-era postal history.
In other news:
-- It was revealed during the "council member comments" segment of the meeting that Borough Manager Ralph Stewart has been given the A.C. Scales Award, recognizing service to the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs and is given to an individual who has performed exceptionally outstanding service to the PSAB.
-- Deborah Cleeton and Doug Johnson also received the "Certified Borough Official" which is a voluntary educational achievement program designed to promote continued education through the officials and excellence in local government service.
-- Council was pleased to hear that Bellefonte was featured in an article titled, "8 Cutest Small Towns in Pennsylvania."
-- The Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) will be meeting virtually Monday, June 12, at 8:30 p.m. due to Gina Thompson's impending vacation.