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A crime of hate
Arsonist reduces CANDLES Holocaust Museum to ashes Eva Kor says she'll rebuild By Peter Ciancone/Tribune-Star November 19, 2003 A museum devoted to spreading the message of love and forgiveness has been reduced to rubble in a crime apparently motivated by hatred. Vigo County Prosecutor Bob Wright said they would treat the fire that destroyed the CANDLES Holocaust Museum about midnight Monday as a crime. "There was an accelerant," he said. "We have every reason to believe there was an arson." In addition, somebody -- possibly the arsonists -- spray-painted in black, "Remember Timmy McVeigh," on the brick wall of the museum building next to the door.Holocaust survivor Eva Kor opened the museum in 1995 at 1532 S. Third St. and served as its director. "You can teach hatred, and you can teach love," Kor said as she stood in the rain looking at the charred remains, clutching a wrapped flower sent to her by a well-wisher. "I'm teaching that we can make a difference, and we do make a difference." Stating the purpose of the museum, she added, "Let us remove all hatred from the world. Let it begin with me." Wright said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has been called in to assist with the investigation. Capt. Rick Erney of the Terre Haute Police Department said nobody had claimed responsibility for the fire. "I wish they would," he said. "It would make our job easier." Erney said the investigation was still in its early stages, but apparently someone threw some kind of accelerant through a window about 12:12 a.m. after a brick had been thrown through it. Doug Garrison, spokesman for the FBI in Indianapolis, said some neo-Nazi groups did exist in Indiana, but their presence was neither active nor widespread. The Southern Poverty Law Center Web site reports three National Socialist Movement cells in Indiana. There is no apparent connection between them and the crime, Wright said. By the time Terre Haute Fire Department units responded to the scene, said Battalion Chief Jeff Stevens, the fire was already through the roof. The fire was quickly brought under control, but not before much of the museum's contents were destroyed. Kor called the fire the product of, "twisted minds, twisted hearts." She promised to rebuild the museum to continue to spread its message. "I feel that the difference that we made in the lives of young people -- for the best -- it's definitely important to continue that," she said. In the rain, with the ruins of her museum in front of her, she added, "I'm sad, but I'm not giving up." Kor survived medical experiments while she and her twin sister Miriam were inmates at the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. "I made the resolve then that I was not going to give up," Kor said. She received the News Woman of the Year award from the Israeli Press in 1985, and won an Emmy as co-producer of a video devoted to the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews, Communists and people that the Nazi regime considered undesirable were murdered in camps throughout Germany and eastern Europe. Kor was a signer of a Declaration of Amnesty forgiving the Nazis in 1995. CANDLES stands for Children of Auschwitz Nazis' Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors. Wright said he could not speculate on the meaning of the message painted on the wall. The same message appears to have been started on the other side of the door, but the graffiti artist apparently planned poorly and had to restart on the other side. The first few letters of "remember" ran into the door frame. McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168. He was executed at the U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute in June 2001. The community already has rallied to support Kor. Advocates of Hate Free Zone in Terre Haute are planning a rally next to the museum at 4 p.m. today, and two rewards have been offered. The International Association of Arson Investigators has offered $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the arsonists. The Anti-Defamation League has offered $2,500. Erney asked anyone with information about the incident to call either the police at (812) 244-2264, or the IAAI at 1-800-382-4628. Peter Ciancone can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or pete.ciancone@tribstar.com. REWARD OFFERED The International Association of Arson Investigators has offered $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the arsonists. The Anti-Defamation League has offered $2,500. Anyone with information about the fire can call either the police at (812) 244-2264, or the IAAI at 1-800-382-4628. |
