Our History

Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois
Fighting Hate Since 1981

When neo-Nazis threatened to march in Skokie in the late 1970s, Holocaust survivors around the world were shocked. They realized that despite their desire to leave the past behind, they could no longer remain silent. In the wake of these attempted marches, Chicago-area survivors joined together to form the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois. The group focused on combating hate with education.

Since 1981, the organization has educated school and community groups through its speakers’ bureau and existing museum. About 30,000 students visited the original site in Skokie in 2005. The new facility, located just west of the Edens Expressway, will serve more than 250,000 annual visitors, reaching a significant portion of the nearly 2.5 million Illinois school children.

The organization is also proud of its efforts to secure the passage of the Holocaust Education Mandate. In 1990, Illinois became the first state to require Holocaust Education in public schools. In 2005, the organization was again influential in the expansion of this mandate, creating the Holocaust and Genocide Education Mandate, which requires Illinois schools to teach about all genocides.


Photograph of Fay Waldman (right) and Danny Kaye (center) at the Skokie march protest, Skokie, IL 1977-78.  IHMEC Collection; Courtesy of the Waldman family.