A Holocaust Exhibit Is Opening in NYC This Week With Hundreds of Survivor Testimonies Meant to 'Educate and Inspire'

The exhibit, called "The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do," will open at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust on July 1.

By

Alison Fox

Published on June 30, 2022

Exterior of Museum of Jewish Heritage, A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City — Photo: Courtesy of Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

A new Holocaust exhibit opening in New York this week aims to bring the horrific history to life through hundreds of objects and survivor testimonies, including many on display for the first time ever.

The exhibit, called "The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do," will open at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust on July 1. The exhibit uses 750 original objects, photos, film, and personal stories donated by survivors and their families who settled in New York and nearby to "tell a global story through a local lens," a spokesperson from the museum said in a statement.

The artifacts, spread out over a 12,000-square-foot exhibition space, speaks to times before, during, and after the Holocaust, including Jewish life and experiences of "legalized racism and fascism, pogroms, ghettos, mass murder, and concentration camps."

"The title of our new exhibition speaks to our institution's very reason for being," museum president and CEO Jack Kliger, said in a statement shared with T+L. "Antisemitism and fascism are again on the rise throughout the world… The time to speak out and act is upon us, and it is urgent. We hope 'The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do' will educate and inspire our visitors and honor those who perished in the Holocaust, whose memories are a blessing."

A teddy bear, a red floral printed gad and a copy of Mein Kampf, Vol 2 - all objects in exhibit at museum — Clockwise: Eva Holzer’s teddy bear, which wears a handmade sweater, traveled with her when her family couldn’t secure visas and so placed the ten-year-old on a Kindertransport. Kindertransports were operations to evacuate Jewishchildren from Nazi-occupied Europe. Marita Radulescu and her family were nomadic Kalderash, a group of Romani people of central Europe, who were also persecuted and racialized by the Nazis. Marita took this handmade blouse with her when she and her family were deported to Transnistria in 1942. This is Heinrich Himmler’s personal copy of Mein Kampf vol.2, by Adolf Hitler. It contains sections underlined in pencil and notes in the margins written by Himmler, a leading member of the Nazi Party. Gift of the Holzer Family. Museum of Jewish Heritage; Collection of the Museum of Jewish Heritage; Anonymous donation in special honor of "the girl in the red coat." Museum of Jewish Heritage

The exhibit also includes an audio tour narrated by several speakers, including actress Julianna Margulies. The audio tour is available to download through the free Bloomberg Connects app.

Tickets for the new exhibit, which are available online, are $18 for adults and free for children under age 12, New York City Department of Education students, Holocaust survivors, active members of the military, and first responders.

There are several ways to learn about the Holocaust throughout the country, like the VR Holocaust memorial experience at Chicago's Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and by visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.

Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.

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