Florida Atlantic University celebrated the groundbreaking of the Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building, FAU officials announced Wednesday.
“This is a monumental day, and I know Kurt would be so proud to see this building become a reality,” Marilyn Wallach told more than 100 people gathered for the celebration in speaking of her late husband’s lifelong commitment to preserving the stories of Holocaust victims.
“Kurt always said, ‘We speak for those who cannot speak, and we remember all the victims, including our family members who perished needlessly,'” Marilyn Wallach said. “It is our hope that through education we can ensure that lives will be saved, and history will not be repeated.”
Kurt Wallach died in 2021, a year after the couple made its $20 million gift to FAU to create the Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Institute for Holocaust and Jewish Studies. It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2026.
Said FAU President Adam Hasner: “The work we undertake today will stand as a national model of how a university can lead with principle and act with purpose.”
Dr. Michael Horswell, dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, said the building “unleashes opportunities for both students and the community who will learn from the past to create a better world for the future.”
The Wallach building will be the home of Florida Atlantic’s Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education; Holocaust education and Jewish studies programs; the Leon Charney Diplomacy program; and the Center for Peace, Justice and Human Rights, all housed within the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, said FAU officials.
It will also feature permanent exhibits: The Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum of South Florida at FAU; and the George and Irina Schaeffer Dimensions in Testimony interactive display. The Marta and Jim Batmasian Memorial Pavilion is dedicated to the memory of 1.5 million Armenians who died in the Armenian genocide.
