For press information, contact kriley@stoneward.com or Nancy Knight, 901-523-ARTS Email: nancy.knight@belzmuseum.org

A Pennsylvania stamp collector set out 30 years ago to uncover an emotionally charged paper trail portraying the tragedy and persecution of the Holocaust.  Today that collection contains more than 250 Holocaust-related items – stamps, postcards, letters, manuscripts – that provide a painful, yet awakening reminder of the historical connection made through the written word.

The Spungen Holocaust Postal Collection is now traveling the country with collector and philatelist Danny Spungen. Memphians can view the exhibit March 28-30 at the following locations:

• March 28: National Civil Rights Museum 2 p.m.

• March 29: Belz Museum of Asian & Judaic Art, exhibit Noon-2 p.m., lecture 2-3 p.m.

• March 30: The University of Memphis Ned R. McWherter Library, 1:30 - 3 p.m.

The collection’s three-day tour is sponsored by the Belz Museum of Asian & Judaic Art.  In addition to the public viewings, Spungen will present the collection to the Memphis Rotary Club and to students at St. Benedict High School in Cordova.

To find out more about the exhibit’s trip to Memphis, visit BelzMuseum.org. For more information on the Spungen Holocaust Postal Collection, including pictures of many documents in the collection, visit www.spungenfoundation.org.

Formally known as “The Nazi Scourge: Postal Evidence of the Holocaust and the Devastation of Europe,” the award-winning, ten-frame collection was created by philatelic researcher and author Ken Lawrence.  It includes Holocaust materials related to stamps, covers, postcards, letters, bank note forgeries, and manuscripts from concentration camps and Jewish ghettos. Some scholars consider it among the most important surviving evidence of Nazi desecration.

In April 2008, the collection was acquired by the Florence and Laurence Spungen Foundation.  Foundation board member Danny Spungen continues adding materials to the collection and travels the country advocating Holocaust awareness. 

The Florence and Laurence Spungen Family Foundation was established in 2006 by Florence and Laurence Spungen and focuses its grants on health related issues, especially cancer research, care and treatment, and on Jewish causes.