Arson is suspected. It was started by Eva Kor who was experimented on by Dr. Mengele. I met this woman six years ago when I visited her museum, and I learned lots of things I had never known before about Nazi "medical" experimentation. This is truly a sad event and I hope that she can get enough donations to open her museum again. Of course, the artifacts she had on display are lost forever. Here's more:
11/18/2003 7:23:20 PM
A little piece of history is lost. Fire ripped through the CANDLES Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute, just after midnight on Tuesday.
Investigators call the fire suspicious saying there is evidence of arson.
Police are treating the case as a hate crime after finding "Remember Timmy McVeigh" written on the wall. Investigators told Action 10 News that the building is nearly a total loss.
Right now, they're looking at samples to determine the nature of the accelerant that started the fire. They are also working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms because of the circumstances and the fact that this is possibly a hate crime.
Eva Kor founded the museum over eight years ago. She's saddened by the fire and wonders why someone set this place ablaze. "It couldn't be as bad and it's not as bad as being and living dead on the floor for two weeks while I fought for my life in Auschwitz." Auschwitz is just one of the memories spread throughout the museum now destroyed by fire.
Eva has a message for whoever did this. "They are cowards, they're absolute cowards." While police continue looking for those suspects, Eva plans to keep sharing her memories. "There are two choices in life when we face tragedy. Give in to despair or triumph over it." Triumphing over despair is just what the museum is doing by looking to the future of moving on and starting over. A process that may take some time.
In the meantime, Eva Kor and Mary Wright will continue to spread the message of how hatred only leads to disaster and as Eva said, "Hatred is ultimately self destructive."
The International Association of Arson Investigations is posting a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.
You can call toll free at 1-800-382-4628. You can also call the Terre Haute Police Department.
If you would like to make a donation to the museum, you can call Mary Wright at 234-7881.