Open Wed-Mon, 10 AM - 5 PM | The last Friday of every month is FREE!

Group Tour Options

“I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli

More than a place to get a meal, the Jewish deli is a community forged in food. “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli explores how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, imported and adapted traditions to create a uniquely American restaurant. The exhibition reveals how Jewish delicatessens became a cornerstone of American food culture. Get a taste of deli history through neon signs, menus, advertisements, uniforms, photographs, and film and TV clips. Plus, spark and share your own deli memories with fun photo ops and interactives!

Exclusively available on-site October 22, 2023 – April 14, 2024.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Rates & Details

The Girl in the Diary: Searching for Rywka from the Łódz Ghetto

The haunting story behind the Girl in the Diary exhibition traces back to 1945 in the liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp. A small artifact, covered in ashes, was found: a diary. This diary belonged to a 14-year-old Jewish girl named Rywka Lipszyc and documented her life in the Łódz Ghetto between October 1943 and April 1944. Now a full-fledged exhibition augmented by artifacts and historical documents, interactive touch screens, and exceptionally rare photographs, visitors to The Girl in the Diary delve into the story of a young girl’s fight for survival in the Łódz Ghetto.

Available on-site and virtually through September 24, 2023.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Rates & Details

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the first-ever museum exhibition focused solely on this judicial and pop icon, a vibrant exploration of Justice Ginsburg’s life and her numerous, often simultaneous roles as a mother, lawyer, judge, women’s rights pioneer, and Internet phenomenon.

Exclusively available virtually.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Rates & Details

Chim: Between Devastation and Resurrection

Chim: Between Devastation and Resurrection showcases Magnum Photos co-founder David “Chim” Seymour’s photographs of post-World War II reconstruction in Europe, European elections, the effect of the war on children, and the birth of the new State of Israel. The subjects of the over 50 photos in the exhibit range from young schoolchildren among the ruins of the former Warsaw Ghetto, waiting for a bus; political rallies; and workers cleaning out rubble from bombed buildings.

Available on-site and virtually through November 26, 2023.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Rates & Details

Stories of Survival: Object. Image. Memory.

Stories of Survival: Object. Image. Memory.is an award-winning exhibition that reflects upon individual stories of the Holocaust and genocides & conflicts in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Iraq, Syria, Rwanda, and South Sudan, told through artworks by photographer Jim Lommasson and survivors of genocide and their families.

Exclusively available virtually.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Shanghai: Safe Haven During the Holocaust

Shanghai: Safe Haven During the Holocaust sheds light on a lesser-known moment in Holocaust history. European Jews, shut out of country after country while fleeing Nazi persecution, found hope in an unlikely place: Shanghai, China. In 1946, American photojournalist Arthur Rothstein began documenting the lives of Jewish refugees who called Hongkew District “home.” Rothstein’s photography and artifacts from former ghetto residents are on display.

Exclusively available virtually.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Zev & Shifra Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition

Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition seamlessly weaves history with stories from local Holocaust Survivors through their personal belongings and photographs, historical records, and testimony.

Available on-site and virtually.
This tour is approximately 90 – 120 minutes.

Survivor Stories Experience

The Abe & Ida Cooper Survivor Stories Experience Holographic Theater pairs high-definition interviews with voice recognition technology, enabling Survivors to tell their stories and respond to questions from the audience.

Exclusively available on-site.
This tour is approximately 30 – 45 minutes.

Women in the Holocaust

This enhanced and highly focused tour of Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition explores the changing and evolving roles of women before, during, and as a result of the Holocaust.

Exclusively available on-site.
This tour is approximately 90 minutes.

Thematic Tour: Ghettoization During the Holocaust

Through the personal belongings, photographs, historical records, and stories of local Survivors and eyewitnesses, see what life was like behind the walls of ghettos in occupied Europe and the Soviet Union. Learn history, human stories, and how many Jewish people maintained their dignity, education, culture, and hope in humanity, even in the darkness of the ghettos.

Exclusively available virtually.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Thematic Tour: Children of the Holocaust

When World War II began, approximately 1.6 million Jewish children lived in Nazi-occupied Europe and the Soviet Union. By war’s end, few had survived. This focused tour explores the lives of Jewish children and adolescents – from the years leading up to the war, to roundups, deportations, and emigrations; to hidden life and death in ghettos and concentration camps; and to liberation and coping following the war.

Exclusively available virtually.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Thematic Tour: Nazi Propaganda

This focused tour examines techniques the Nazis used to build support and acceptance of their vision for Germany’s future. The tour illuminates how Nazi propaganda molded public opinion and indoctrinated German society with an ideology that fueled racism and hate, leading to government-sanctioned violence and ultimately the genocide of approximately 6 million Jews and millions of others.

Exclusively available virtually.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

Thematic Tour: Spiritual Resistance

This virtual thematic tour highlights artifacts and stories from Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition through the lens of Jewish spiritual resistance. Hear the stories of those who found strength from their faith or drew resilience from within to resist and combat their dire situation, risking their lives to sustain their inner beliefs and soul by transcending the physical in the face of Nazi tyranny.

Exclusively available virtually.
This tour is approximately 60 minutes.

This tour is a project of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center and the Midwest Center for Jewish Learning, an initiative of the YU Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago. Created by Laurie Hasten and Miki Jona Schreiber.

Symbolic by Design Architectural Tour

This tour begins with an exploration of the Museum’s striking exterior (weather permitting) and continues within, resulting in an in-depth understanding and appreciation of legendary Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman’s use of design, symbolism, and light as he tells the story of the Holocaust through the building. Dark walls and sharp angles give way to rounded edges and natural light, evoking a spirit of freedom, resilience, and hope.

Exclusively available on-site.
This tour is approximately 90 – 120 minutes.

Inspired to Act Tour

This adult group tour features an overview of Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition and Take a Stand Center. After the tour, a docent facilitates a conversation and assists the group in preparing an action plan for positive change in their communities.

Exclusively available on-site.
This tour is approximately 60 – 120 minutes.

Family Tour

Tour the Museum together! While adult group members tour the Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition, youth 12 and under tour our Take a Stand Center and Make a Difference! The Harvey L. Miller Family Youth Exhibition. After the tour, all members reconnect for a shared experience of your choosing.

Exclusively available on-site.
This tour is approximately 90 minutes.

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