Overview of the Holocaust Memorial Center Museum

 

            The permanent exhibit of the Holocaust Memorial Center museum serves two purposes.  The first is to present an overview history of the Holocaust.  The second is to serve as a memorial to the victims.  The displays consist primarily of photographs and text, supplemented by artifacts, art works, and short film presentations.  The museum display is divided into the segments listed below.  Each section introduces or elaborates upon a major theme of the Holocaust or teaching message of the Center.

 

Introduction:  Visitors to the Holocaust Memorial Center are greeted by the following quote from Elie Wiesel, "Whoever forgets, becomes the executioners' accomplice."  Two themes are expressed in this quote.  The first is our obligation to remember the Holocaust and its victims.  The second is our duty to use this memory to oppose the work of the Nazis and their ideological heirs.

 

How We Are Today:  Two themes are introduced in this display, as well.  The first is to show that Jewish people (including Holocaust survivors) are part of our community.  The second is to show that prejudice against Jews, as expressed by groups like Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, is still a danger in our world today.

 

How We Were Then:  This section draws comparisons between the world before the Holocaust and our own times.  Then as now, Jews were living normal lives.  They were an integral part of the communities in which they lived.  They were not different, as human beings, from anyone else in society.  Nevertheless, they were often targeted for persecution.

 

The Life Before:  This section elaborates on Jewish life before the Holocaust and reveals that prejudice against Jews was deeply rooted in the history of Europe.  It also introduces the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany.

 

Threatening Jews; Stifling Political Opposition:  An important theme emerges from this presentation of the early years of Nazi rule.  The onset and progression of the Nazi persecution of the Jews was gradual.  It began by utilizing anti-Jewish stereotypes in propaganda.  It continued through periodic acts of social, political, and economic discrimination.  It became an organized program of physical violence with the Kristallnacht pogrom in November of 1938.  The gradual nature of the anti-Semitic program served to obscure the magnitude of the danger.   

 

War - Persecution - Ghetto:  This panel describes how the Nazis used the cover of war to begin the destruction of the Jewish communities of Germany and occupied Europe.  They began by forcing Jews into ghettoes in Poland and other occupied countries.  Many of these ghettoes were sealed.  They quickly became places of starvation, sickness, and death.  Even though they had not acknowledged it formally, the Nazis had begun their program of mass murder.

 

Death Camps - Life in the Camps:  These two sections chronicle the fate of the victims who were sent to concentration or death camps.  Most were sent to immediate execution.  Those consigned to slave labor usually suffered the same ultimate fate.  These displays tell the story of the camps without relying heavily on graphic images of Nazi brutality.  

 

Resistance:  One of the most important lessons about the Holocaust is that the Jews fought back.  Many took up arms against the Nazis and became "partisans".  Some camp inmates revolted.  Resistance could take other forms, as well.  Some smuggled food, formed self-help agencies, carried on religious and cultural activities, or hid from the Nazis.  These were also forms of resistance.

 

Non-Jews resisted the Nazis, too.  Some are now known as "Righteous Gentiles" due to their efforts to save Jewish victims.   Though they were few in numbers, they proved that it was possible to live up to the highest ideals of humanity, even in the face of extreme danger.

 

The Final Solution:  This display reiterates the intent of the Nazis to solve what they called their "Jewish Problem" through mass murder.  The panel describes the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) executions and recognizes the voluntary and premeditated character of the killings.  The Nazis’ use of propaganda and deceptive, euphemistic language is also explained. 

 

The Last Journey:  The "Last Journey" panel reveals the fact that hatred of the Jews constituted the fanatical core of Nazi ideology.  The description of the death marches at the end of the war demonstrates the unwillingness of the perpetrators to release their victims, even though it would have been in their best interest to do so.

 

Liberation:  The final section of the museum describes the liberation of the concentration camps by the allies.  It explores the idea that the German public was forced to accept responsibility for the crimes which occurred in its midst. It also introduces the idea that the survivors were only at the beginning of a long struggle to reclaim their lives, with most seeking new homes outside of Europe (most in Palestine or the United States).

 

Witness Histories: Survivor and Liberator Testimonies:  This “state of the art”  DVD presentation introduces museum visitors to local Holocaust survivors and liberators.  The program was developed for the Holocaust Center by Disney I.D.E.A.S. using excerpts of interview videotapes selected from the Holocaust Memorial Center archives.  These interviews constitute a unique and valuable primary resource for our community.  The complete interviews from which these excerpts are taken may be viewed at the Holocaust Center by special request. 

 

Artifacts and Works of Art

 

Artifacts:  Several display cases of artifacts are on exhibit throughout the museum to enhance the experience of visitors.  These objects from the past can help visitors gain new insight and perspective on the people and events of the Holocaust.

 

Art Works and Memorial Displays:  Six memorial lamps are integrated into the front wall of the museum.  Each lamp represents one million of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  They are also visible from the outside of the building.  They are surrounded on either side by curved walls of Jerusalem stone that draw the visitors' attention to the display.  Local artist, Wolf Kahn designed the statues on display in front of the curved wall.  They were created to honor the survivors and the liberators.  He also designed the relief sculpture on the entry doors.  The drawings of Luba Gurdus present a stark portrayal of the camps as remembered by a survivor.  The Founders' Wall contains plaques placed by members of the community in honor of family members and friends who were victims of the Holocaust.

"Sharing Survivors" by Wolf Kahn		Holocaust Center Memorial Lamps