The Zekelman Holocaust Center facts for kids

The Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills.

The Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is Michigan's largest museum about the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a terrible time in history when about six million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

History of the Center

The Zekelman Holocaust Center, first known as the Holocaust Memorial Center, was the first museum of its kind in the United States. It was started by Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig and other Holocaust survivors. These survivors were called Shaarit Haplaytah, meaning "the Remnant."

It took almost 20 years of planning and fundraising to build the museum. Construction began on December 6, 1981, in West Bloomfield. The museum opened in October 1984.

Later, the museum needed more space. So, a new, bigger museum was built in Farmington Hills. Its new design was even featured in the Wall Street Journal. Since it opened, over a million people have visited the center. Many thousands of schoolchildren visit each year and get to speak with a Holocaust survivor.

Rabbi Rosenzveig passed away in 2008. In 2022, the Holocaust Memorial Center was renamed The Zekelman Holocaust Center. This was to honor the Zekelman family for their generous donations.

What the Center Does

The Zekelman Holocaust Center's main goal is to "engage, educate, and empower by remembering the Holocaust." This means they want to teach people about the Holocaust and its lessons.

The center does many things:

• It hosts tours for schools, universities, and other groups.
• It has a large library and a gallery for art and history exhibits.
• It offers educational programs for different age groups.
• It features eleven main exhibits.

The center works to fight antisemitism, which is hatred towards Jewish people. They do this by sharing survivor stories and the history of the Jewish community's struggle against the Nazis. They teach visitors the historical facts of how the Holocaust happened. The center always uses the word "murdered" when talking about the victims. This highlights the violent and hateful actions of those who committed these crimes.

Main Exhibits

The Eternal Flame and Memorial Wall

When you enter the Zekelman Holocaust Center, you will see a flame that burns all the time. This "Eternal Flame" honors the memories of the Holocaust victims. In Jewish tradition, a candle is lit for a day to remember a loved one who has passed. Since many victims have no known grave or anniversary, this flame burns constantly for them.

Next to the flame is the Memorial Wall. It lists the names of the concentration and extermination camps. These camps were like unmarked graves for the innocent people murdered during the Holocaust. The wall says, "These do I remember and for them my soul weeps." It lists camps like Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and Dachau.

Another part of the wall shows different countries in Europe and Africa. Below each country, it lists the number of Jewish people murdered there. The wall states that the total number of Jewish people murdered in ghettos, camps, and mass killings was over 6.2 million.

The Boxcar

Anne Frank White Chestnut Tree Sapling at the Zekelman Holocaust Memorial Center.

The Boxcar is one of the first and most important exhibits you will see. It is a real train car from World War II. The Nazis used these boxcars to transport Jewish people and others they considered "undesirable" to killing centers.

Signs near the boxcar explain its history. Sometimes, more than 100 people were forced into these cars without food. The Nazis even paid the railroad for these "passengers," knowing it was a one-way trip.

The area around the boxcar looks like the train station in Hamburg, Germany, where victims were transported from. There are also visuals and sounds that show the crowded streets of the Warsaw Ghetto. This exhibit helps visitors understand the terrible conditions and inhumane treatment of those transported. It shows how the Holocaust was a planned and organized process.

Museum of European Jewish Heritage

This is the largest gallery at the center. It shows what Jewish life was like in Europe before the Holocaust. The exhibit starts in a circular room with a timeline of Jewish history from ancient times to the early 2000s. There's also an interactive guide to world Jewish history.

The goal of this museum is to teach visitors about the rich culture and way of life that the Holocaust destroyed. It highlights the many contributions Jewish people made to ethics, morals, education, and culture. This helps promote understanding between different cultures.

The museum has a detailed timeline of Jewish history. It shows the contributions of Jewish communities in different countries and time periods. You can see names, pictures, and achievements of authors, artists, and community leaders. The history is also shown through artwork, maps, photos, videos, and a replica of a shtetl (a small Jewish town). The exhibit reminds us of the active role Jewish people played in science, politics, and fighting racism and antisemitism.

This exhibition also covers the history of antisemitism before and after the Nazis. It shows that hatred towards Jewish people existed long before the Holocaust. It includes topics like the Blood Libel, Pogroms (violent attacks), and the rise of National Socialism. This section leads into the next exhibit, showing the long history of persecution and Jewish resistance.

The final part of this exhibit looks at European Jewish communities from the late 1800s to the start of World War I. It shows their role in broader European history and leads into the "Descent Into Nazism" exhibit.

Descent Into Nazism

This exhibit takes you down a long, dimly lit hallway. It features Nazi artifacts and a large picture of Adolf Hitler. The exhibit explains the political and cultural changes that made antisemitism normal in Nazi Germany.

You'll learn about laws like the Reich Citizenship Law. These laws helped legalize and normalize hatred against Jewish people. There's also a video about Herschel Grynszpan, whose actions were used as an excuse for Kristallnacht, or "the Night of Broken Glass." During Kristallnacht, synagogues were burned, shops were destroyed, and many Jewish people were murdered or sent to concentration camps.

The exhibit also shows how the Nazis persecuted other groups, including homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Romani people. In the center of the hallway, you'll see explanations of the Nazi leaders. On the left, there's information about the MS St. Louis, a ship carrying German Jewish passengers who tried to escape Nazi Germany.

This exhibit also highlights the brave resistance of Jewish communities in the ghettos, like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It shows how Jewish people actively fought against the Nazi regime. The section then moves into a timeline of Nazi expansion and World War II, leading to the "Final Solution" (the Nazi plan to murder all Jewish people). It explains how the Nazis tried to hide their crimes and how different groups resisted them.

The Camp System

This exhibit provides detailed information and videos about the many concentration and extermination camps. You can even enter a cattle car, similar to those used to transport victims. Inside, you'll see images of Jewish victims.

The entrance to this exhibit looks like a concentration camp gate. Camps began in 1933, first for political enemies. As the Nazi regime grew, more camps were built to murder Jewish people and other groups. While famous camps include Auschwitz-Birkenau and Dachau, this exhibit stresses that thousands of camps existed across Europe. It also explains how these camps were built and their importance to the Nazi regime. A central video shows details of the camps.

The Abyss

Before entering "The Abyss," there is a warning about disturbing images. This exhibit is a long hallway with many televisions showing video footage. This footage was collected by Dwight D. Eisenhower's order, who wanted news media and military personnel to record the horrible conditions in the concentration and extermination camps. At the end of the hallway, there is a sculpture of a Jewish victim with a typical camp bunk bed behind them.

The Postwar Period

After "The Abyss," you enter an exhibit about what happened after the Nazi regime fell. It includes information on the Nuremberg trials, where Nazi leaders were judged for their crimes. A statement above the faces of those on trial says, "People were shocked by how ordinary the defendants seemed..." This emphasizes the center's message: ordinary people can commit terrible crimes, and such events could happen again.

The center of this exhibit is dedicated to survivors. It's a blue-lit circle. On one side, you'll find stories of orphans displaced by the Holocaust. On the other, it describes displaced persons and the journey of Jewish people after the Holocaust. Both sections highlight the struggles and triumphs of survivors and their families. This exhibit shows the ongoing history of the Jewish community worldwide.

Portraits of Honor

The "Portraits of Honor" exhibit celebrates Michigan Holocaust Survivors. A ramp displays their portraits and tells their stories of life in metropolitan Detroit. This exhibit, developed with the help of Dr. Charles Silow (a son of survivors), shows not only the suffering but also the triumph of survivors. It highlights how they overcame one of humanity's greatest horrors. It also shows the challenges survivors faced in new lands and how Michigan's culture affected their journey. The exhibit reminds us that despite genocide, Jewish people have fought, rebuilt, and created new lives around the world.

The Viola & Garry Kappy Anne Frank Tree Exhibit and Garden

In 2009, the center was chosen as one of only eleven places in the U.S. to receive a sapling (a young tree) from the tree that grew outside Anne Frank's hiding place in Amsterdam. Anne Frank was a young girl who wrote a famous diary while hiding from the Nazis. For almost two years, she could only look out one window, where she saw this white chestnut tree. The sapling grows outside the exhibit, which shares details from Anne Frank's diary and how her story helps us understand the Holocaust.

The Harry & Wanda Zekelman International Institute of the Righteous

The International Institute of the Righteous (IIR) focuses on people and groups who performed acts of kindness and bravery during times of great danger or evil.

The IIR honors those who rescued and supported others, even when it put themselves and their families at great risk. Exhibits include pictures and stories of these brave individuals. It also shows how governments and organizations helped.

Kindertransport Memory Quilts

In 1988, Anita Grosz, whose father was a Kindertransport survivor, had an idea. She wanted to preserve the memories of the Kindertransport experience through quilting. The Kindertransport was a series of rescue efforts that brought thousands of Jewish children to safety in Great Britain from Nazi Germany.

This exhibit shows quilts made by these "Kinder" (children), who are now adults. Their quilts share memories that were often hard to talk about. It's an exhibit that shows how art and community can help share collective memory and deal with trauma.

Library Archives

The center has a library with physical and online archives. The public can access these by appointment or through the website. The collections cover many topics related to the Holocaust, Jewish history, and World War II. These include information on concentration camps, ghettos, personal stories, rescue efforts, and more.

Community Involvement

The Zekelman Holocaust Center works with local and state communities to educate people. It hosts many events, such as the Ellie Wiesel Night Competition and Yom HaShoah Commemoration (Holocaust Remembrance Day).

The center also offers learning programs for younger age groups and adults. These programs include tours, workshops, and competitions for students. Each program highlights the historical and community importance of the Holocaust.

Press Coverage

As a leading Holocaust museum in the United States, the center often appears in local and national news. For example, in 2022, The Detroit Free Press covered a visit from the Homeland Security Chief. In 2021, the center announced a large donation from the Zekelman family. News outlets like the Jewish News and USA Today have also covered events at the center, such as the planting of the Anne Frank Tree Sapling. The center continues to receive press coverage for its community events, donations, and new exhibits.

See also

In Spanish: Holocaust Memorial Center para niños