An 80th-anniversary commemoration event is kicking off Friday at Oswego's Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum.
It's been 80 years since the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter first opened it's doors for World War II refugees. The refugee shelter was the first, and only of its kind, housing more than 950 Jewish refugees from 1944 to 1946.
This weekend, some of the former refugees and their families will be coming back to remember. Judy Coe-Rapaport, acting president of the Safe Haven museum, has been planning a commemoration event for over a year, she said this weekend is about keeping the stories and friendships alive.
"I've been involved with Safe Haven for 24 years, and I have traveled, throughout the country and even to France to meet the former refugees, to get to know them and learn about them, and they they're my friends," Coe-Rapaport said. "And one thing I always say that once you meet this group of people, you're never the same again."
Free museum admission will be offered over the weekend and educational speakers will help shed light on the refugee center's history. Coe-Rapaport said it's an important story to tell.
"This story is historically important," Coe-Rapaport said. "It is the only refugee shelter in the world of its kind; where they were given safe haven."
She said don't let the size of the museum fool you.
"Our museum is a little museum, but it tells a powerful story," Coe-Rapaport said.
