Holocaust Museum of SWFL looking for public’s help with investigation

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NAPLES, Fla.- The Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida is asking the public to help investigate a story that has even baffled historians.

A Jewish couple escaped Nazi-controlled Europe and eventually settled in Naples.

Stanley and Sally Factor left behind letters and documents. The museum is hoping to find more insight into their journey by letting the public track their genealogy and access those documents.

“To come across a trove of documentation, it’s absolutely excitement. It’s fascination and it’s the story– what is the story that unfolds in those documents,” said Sam Parish, education specialist at the museum.

The more they found about the couple, the more questions they had.

“We see them travel from Eastern Europe to Germany where they’re married. We see them go to escape from Germany come to New York somehow make their way to Miami and then they end up right here in Naples, Florida,” said Parish.

But what happened to Stanley’s parents back in Eastern Europe under Nazi rule and why did Stanley acquire a gun license in the 1920s? Not only does the museum hope the public can help them answer those questions, they’re also bringing history to life for students.

“This kind of exhibit is really good because it’s not a broad overarching, lots of numbers and dates and foreign sounding places. It’s two people and if they just follow those two peoples lives they’ll see the impact of the Holocaust,” said Parish.

The exhibit will be open until September 27. The Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida is open Tuesday through Sunday from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m.

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