The Board of Trustees of the Maltz Museum announced this week that David Schafer plans to step down as managing director later this year. He has served in this position since 2017 and with the Maltz Museum since 2010.
“On behalf of our Board of Trustees, our founders Milton and Tamar Maltz, the museum employees and volunteers, our community partners and our generous donors, I want to thank David for his unwavering dedication and commitment to the Maltz Museum and its values during his 14 years of service,” said Reneé Chelm, board chair.
“Under David’s leadership, the Maltz Museum has become a shining example of our efforts to promote respect for all humanity. David’s outstanding relationships in our community, locally, nationally and even internationally, have elevated the reputation of the Maltz Museum as a beacon of hope for a brighter future.”
During Schafer’s tenure, the Maltz Museum:
- Expanded the “Stop the Hate” essay and songwriting contest for Northeast Ohio students in sixth to twelfth grade.
- Held 13 special exhibitions, including “Operation Finale: The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann,” which traveled to Munich in 2023 to be displayed prominently in a city that gave birth to fascism.
- Welcomed 215,000 visitors, including 50,000 students, to explore and learn diverse stories of courage from history and today.
- Established the Heritage Award, the museum’s signature fundraising event, which celebrates individuals whose leadership, vision and humanity have changed the region for the better.
- Curated and introduced Holocaust survivor Stanley Bernath and civil rights icon the Rev. Otis Moss Jr. as holographic interactive biographies.
“Fifteen years ago, Tamar and I looked at each other and said – who could really help lead our Maltz Museum, someone who cares about our community, understands the importance with building bridges, and believes in the Jewish People and Israel?” said Milton Maltz. “We knew we had to convince David Schafer and his wife Orna to leave sunny Florida to come back to our beloved Cleveland – the community in which he spent over a decade going door to door pitching Israel Bonds. It was the best decision we made for our museum. David has brought financial stability, awareness of our mission, and leadership to our staff.”
“I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to build upon the vision of our founders,” said David Schafer. “It has been an honor to work with a dedicated team of colleagues to steward the Maltz Museum’s work in serving Northeast Ohio and beyond.”
Now on display at the Maltz Museum through April 28 – “The Girl in the Diary: Searching for Rywka from the Lodz Ghetto,” which explores the story of a young, 14-year-old Jewish girl’s fight for survival in the Lodz Ghetto and reconstructs what might have happened to her.
The Maltz Museum opened in 2005 in a collaboration between The Maltz Family Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Centennial Initiative and The Temple-Tifereth Israel with research support from the Western Reserve Historical Society. For more information visit www.maltzmuseum.org….
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