Exhibitions

Karkomi Permanent Exhibition

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The Zev and Shifra Karkomi Permanent Exhibition tells the story of the Holocaust, from pre-war German life, to ghettos and concentration camps, to eventual liberation and resettlement throughout the world, with a special focus on post-war life in Skokie. More than 500 artifacts, documents, and photographs help illustrate the narrative of the Holocaust, while testimonies from local survivors add personal detail. A German rail car of the type used in Nazi deportation programs sits in the center of the building. The exhibition concludes with a summary film in the Pritzker Theater that connects the lessons of the Holocaust with other genocides.  View select artifacts online >

The average visit time is approximately two hours. This exhibition is recommended for visitors 12 years of age and older.

 

 

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Make a Difference! The Harvey L. Miller Family Youth Exhibition

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Make a Difference! The Harvey L. Miller Family Youth Exhibition is designed for visitors aged 8-11. Interactive and hands-on activities in McDonald’s Friendship Park help visitors identify who they are as individuals, explore what it takes to care for themselves and others, and learn how to make the difficult decisions that lead to being an “upstander” rather than a bystander. “Take a Stand” is a virtual-reality experience that provides a safe forum for visitors to explore their impact on their communities and how their decisions and actions affect others. The Polk Bros. Global Community Theater offers a variety of film and live experiences.

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Legacy of Absence Gallery

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The Legacy of Absence Gallery focuses on contemporary artistic responses to genocides and other atrocities, including Cambodia, Rwanda, Argentina, and the Soviet Gulag. Through various perspectives, these galleries help visitors gain an understanding of the lasting effects of the Holocaust, genocide and human rights abuses. The Gallery features contemporary works of art, photographs, and multimedia installations from world-renowned artists such as Samuel Bak, Betye Saar, Natan Nuchi, and Jozef Szajna, among many others.

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Special Exhibition

Fire in my heart: The story of hannah senesh

May 14-September 8, 2013

 
Hannah Senesh came of age as a promising poet in Budapest. Becoming a Zionist, she immigrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1939. Four years later—hoping to aid Hungary’s embattled Jews—the 22- year-old Hannah volunteered to penetrate Nazi-controlled Europe as a British intelligence officer. Following her capture and imprisonment, a Hungarian court found her guilty of treason and executed her. Within months of her death, Hannah Senesh was a national hero to the Jewish community in Palestine. Her poem “A Walk to Caesarea” (popularly known as “Eli, Eli”) was set to music and has become a second anthem for the Jewish State. Through her writings, photographs, remaining possessions, and interviews by friends and colleagues, her remarkable life is revealed here for the first time. Her story illustrates how a person motivated by ideals can act in extraordinary ways and contribute to causes greater than one’s self.

 

Fire In My Heart: The Story of Hannah Senesh was created and is circulated by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

This exhibition is made possible by leadership gifts in loving memory of Anne Ratner from her children and grandchildren, and from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Additional support provided by the David Berg Foundation and The Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation, Inc.
 
We are grateful to the Senesh Family for making the exhibition possible by providing material from their collection.

Photo collection of the Senesh Family.

The Golder Family Foundation is the lead sponsor for all Museum Special Exhibitions.

 

 

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Room of Remembrance and Hall of Reflection

The Room of Remembrance pays special homage to the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.   Representative names of victims line the walls in a moving tribute to those who were lost. The inspirational Pritzker Hall of Reflection provides a forum for peaceful discussion and contemplation for groups and individuals.

 

 

 

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RESCUE AND RENEWAL -
The Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Collection of Hebrew Theological College

In the fall of 1950, Hebrew Theological College (HTC) Librarian Leah Mishkin received several large crates filled with Jewish ceremonial objects and religious texts. More crates would arrive over the next few years until, ultimately, Mrs. Mishkin became custodian of over sixty objects and thousands of books, entrusted to HTC by Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc. (JCR). The U.S. State Department vested authority in JCR for the identification and redistribution of “heirless” Jewish cultural property found in the U.S. Occupied Sector of Germany. All told, JCR took custody from the American Military of 500,000 books, 1,000 Torah scrolls, and 17,000 objects, for which no claims had been filed and no heirs could be determined. The activities of JCR reflected an effort to salvage what remained of a vast intellectual and cultural world and to link the lost communities of Europe to the rest of the Jewish world as an act of preservation and remembrance. Over sixty of these objects were placed in the care of Hebrew Theological College. On loan to the Museum, these treasured artifacts are on display in the Feis Family Lobby.
 
This exhibition is made possible by Judy and Albert  Milstein and family in memory of Holocaust survivors Ruth and Sam Milstein.