Elliott Caldwell, Consulting Archivist
at the Holocaust Education and Resource Center of RI and Archives and Special Collections Consultant at the URI Library (M.A. University of
Rhode Island, 1991; M.L.I.S. University of Rhode Island, 1990) will
speak in the Galanti Lounge of the URI Library about “The Little
Valise.” The valise is one of the artifacts held by the Holocaust
Education and Resource Center of RI. Its journey and history has been
uncovered through a combination of historical research by Ms. Caldwell
and translation by a team of scholars. The valise had been owned by a
Jewish family, Heinrich and Leontine Schafranik, who set sail on the MS
St. Louis, the famed “Voyage of the Damned.” In her presentation, Ms.
Caldwell tells the incredible story of this family, including their
internment in England during the war. Her presentation sheds light on
the little known phenomenon of British internment camps during World War
II, where hundreds of Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe were
imprisoned.