The Virginia Holocaust Museum attracts an increasing number of European visitors - and volunteers. Three young Europeans have been especially helpful lately.

Laura Henley perhaps holds the record for volunteer service to the Virginia Holocaust Museum. The Northamptonshire, England native began a one-month unpaid internship at the Museum in mid-October 2001. She's been there ever since, leaving only to mount an exhibit on the Holocaust in her home town in December 2001.
Laura is returning to England this May. Her original plans - to become a teacher - have changed as a result of her experience at the Museum. She'll start graduate school in West Wales next fall, in pursuit of a master's degree in museum studies.
Laura says, "I came here thinking it was a job. But now I'm like a member of the family. Everyone is so close, and everyone has been so good to me. I am so sad to be leaving."

Florian Oberleiter is the Museum's third Austrian Gedenkdienst intern. (The "Remembrance Program" places Austrian citizens at selected organizations around the world, including museums and archives where the government-sponsored interns work for the public good in lieu of performing military service.)
The 21-year-old was influenced by his family history - his grandfather was a Nazi officer during the war - to volunteer for a 14-month "tour of duty" at the Virginia Holocaust Museum.
At the Museum Florian will help schedule visitors, lead tours, and assist in the construction of the Museum's "new home for tolerance." (He's a certified mechanical engineer, having completed a rigorous five-year vocational course in Austria.) In his spare time, Florian hopes to travel around the U.S. He 's already been to Washington and Virginia Beach. And he hopes to improve his English. "Being abroad on your own," says Florian, "is an important experience."

Twenty-year-old Jessica Klein hails from Berlin, where she has just finished her secondary schooling. In Richmond with her boyfriend, she heard that the Museum needed volunteers, and came on board in November.
"Jessy-on-the-spot" has helped Dianna Gabay make chickens for one of the new exhibits. She's sewn buttons on mannequin outfits. She helps catalog photos and videos. "I like my work a lot. The people are great. I feel like I'm doing something that is needed," says Jessy.
When she returns to Germany, she intends to study at the university level. The Museum values its interns, and welcomes all interested individuals who would like to learn more about volunteer opportunities at the Museum. Call (804) 497-3168 for more information.