Voice of the Museum

The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is proud to announce the appointment of national nonprofit leader Bernard Cherkasov as the Museum’s Chief Executive Officer. Cherkasov joins the Museum during an incredible moment in its history. In 2022, the Museum saw record-high attendance and gained international attention for its groundbreaking virtual reality exhibition, leadership combating… Read More

Museums are bearers of history. By housing the artifacts and documents of the past, we ensure that the truth, both noble and horrific, of what humanity has done remains shared and accessible. We at Holocaust museums around the world have a particular mission. The stories we tell are ones of destruction and pain, and of… Read More

This week, legislation was passed in Florida that restricts elementary school teachers from addressing gender and sexuality in the classroom. But cisgender and heterosexual identities are implicitly addressed in classroom settings every day. This bill is targeting LGBTQ+ kids and LGBTQ+ families. The “Don’t Say Gay” (HB 1557) bill is part of a larger effort… Read More

We are excited to announce the launch of a new podcast series, “Resistance, Resilience and Hope: Holocaust Survivor Stories.” A co-production of Illinois Holocaust Museum and Studio C, the podcast is an uplifting and thought-provoking series that shares an intimate glimpse into the lives of Holocaust Survivors through one-on-one conversation. Join the Survivors on a… Read More

I’m a huge sports fan. And while I have a particular penchant for my hometown Chicago teams, I’ll tune in to any big game. For me, sports provide the unscripted drama that supersedes the latest Netflix binge. Watching an underdog college basketball team make a surprise run to the Elite Eight provides me with exhilaration… Read More

October 11th is National Coming Out Day, a day established in 1988 by members of the LGBTQ+ community to encourage people to stop hiding and be open about their identity. Coming out increases visibility of the LGBTQ+ community and in extension combats ignorance, prejudice, and biases. It also fuels feelings of solidarity within the LGBTQ+… Read More

September 29-30th marks the 80th anniversary of the largest massacre during the Holocaust committed by mobile killing units in the German-occupied Soviet Union Territories (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Bessarabia, North Bukovina, and Soviet Union), with over 33,771 Jews murdered in two days. The massacre at Babi Yar, outside of Kiev, Ukraine, is among the… Read More

Originally published in Smithsonian Magazine Author: Nora McGreevy When European Jews targeted by the Nazis sought help from nations around the world, most of their pleas went unanswered: At a 1938 conference of 32 countries, for instance, only the tiny Dominican Republic agreed to welcome additional German Jewish evacuees. Countries such as the United States, Canada and Cuba, meanwhile,… Read More

As a Survivor of the Holocaust and the President of Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Fritzie Fritzshall devoted her life to combatting hatred and prejudice, inspiring people to become Upstanders instead of bystanders, and speaking out to make our world a better place. She tirelessly fought hatred, telling her harrowing story of survival and… Read More