Pfleger said he is accepting an invitation to visit the Illinois Holocaust Museum, but said he is countering with offer for museum staff to come to the DuSable Museum of African American History, “so we understand that one’s pain does not negate another’s pain.”
News from 2019
December 28, 2019
Windy City Times | Holocaust Museum plans programs for 2020
Skokie’s Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will mark the 75th anniversary of liberation and the end of World War II will free days and programs throughout 2020.
December 6, 2019
Choose Chicago | Profile: Illinois Holocaust Museum
December 5, 2019
Chicago Tribune: Red Eye | Free Stuff to do in Chicago
Tuesday, December 10: Check out “They Shall Be Counted,” a collection of sketches and watercolors created by Erich Lichtblau-Leskly, including works he started while imprisoned in Theresienstadt Ghetto, and visit the museum’s permanent exhibitions.
December 2, 2019
Concierge Preferred | 10 Awe-Inspiring Museum Exhibits You Can’t Miss
Memory Unearthed: See the haunting images and artifacts of Henryk Ross’ personal experience during Nazi war and hear video footage of the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
November 22, 2019
Loyola Academy | Loyola Hosts “Words Matter” Interfaith Dialogue
Loyola Academy had the honor of hosting Holocaust Survivor Fritzie Fritzshall, president of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, and Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, for an interfaith dialogue on Monday, November 18.
November 20, 2019
Chicago Catholic | Cardinal, Holocaust survivor on dangers of hateful rhetoric
Cardinal Cupich, Holocaust survivor Fritzie Fritzshall and ABC7 news anchor Alan Krashesky came together Nov. 18 at Loyola Academy in Wilmette to talk about their July visit to Auschwitz and make the point that the horror of the Holocaust started with hateful rhetoric.
November 17, 2019
CSPAN |Citizen 865 at Illinois Holocaust Museum
Author and journalist Debbie Cenziper talked about her book, Citizen 865: The Hunt for Hitler’s Hidden Soldiers in America, in which she reported on the Nazi war criminals who secretly emigrated to the United States following World War II.
November 7, 2019
Chicago Tribune | Commentary: Holocaust survivor’s chilling memories of Kristallnacht illustrate the need for every last person to fight injustice
Ralph Rehbock, First Vice President of Illinois Holocaust Museum, reflects upon his memories of Kristallnacht and shares the stories of the five extraordinary Upstanders who helped him survive the Holocaust.
October 27, 2019
Chicago Splash Magazine | Illinois Holocaust Museum Opens 4 New Immersive Galleries – Showcasing Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust
If you have never been to the Illinois Holocaust Museum or have not been there recently, plan to go on Tuesday, October 29, from 5:30-8:00 PM. for the grand opening of four new galleries.
October 23, 2019
Chicago Tribune | Debunking the myth that Jews did not resist during the Holocaust, a new exhibit in Skokie shows the ways they fought back
It remains one of the most pernicious myths of the Holocaust: that Jews did not resist. An illuminating new exhibition at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, in Skokie, argues powerfully to the contrary.
October 18, 2019
Fox 32 | Chicago Photos of life in Jewish WWII ghetto in new exhibit at Illinois Holocaust Museum
October 1, 2019
WTTW | ‘Memory Unearthed’ Shines Light on a Dark Chapter of WWII
When the Nazis made a ghetto in the central Polish city of Lodz, one man trapped inside took thousands of pictures. He had an official capacity as an ID photographer, but he risked his life to take other photos that documented the truth.
September 24, 2019
Chicago Tribune | Henryk Ross didn’t know if his secret photos from inside the Lodz Ghetto would survive the Holocaust. Half did and are now in Skokie.
The images are joyful and terrifying, playful and bleak, hopeful and tragic. They were taken in the Lodz Ghetto during the Holocaust by a photographer who repeatedly risked his life to document what happened there.
September 21, 2019
WBEZ News | Photo Exhibit Reveals Life In Lodz Ghetto Under Nazi Regime
When the Nazis took over Lodz, Poland in 1940, they initially confiscated the camera of photojournalist Henryk Ross, who was Jewish. They returned the camera, but only so Ross could take official photos for Jewish identification cards and other Nazi propaganda.
September 20, 2019
CBS 2 Chicago | Holocaust Survivor Describes Depravity And Humanity Of Lodz Ghetto; Photographer’s Work Shows It Clearly
For most of us, the Holocaust is a dark period in world history. But for survivor Max Epstein, it’s still a living memory.
September 12, 2019
Chicago Jewish News | Jewish photographer’s view of life in ghetto on exhibit at Illinois Holocaust Museum
The Nazis pulled at opposite ends in their own documenting of the Holocaust.
September 3, 2019
Better | Chicago’s 25 Most Powerful Women 2019
Susan Abrams, CEO, Illinois Holocaust Museum.
September 1, 2019
Sheridan Road | Photographic Memory
From 1940-1944, Polish Jewish photojournalist Henryk Ross (1910-1991) was on assignment, taking official photographs inside the Lodz Ghetto for the Department of Statistics of the Nazi-controlled Jewish Council. Unbeknownst to the Council, Ross was simultaneously amassing a photographic record of everyday scenes and atrocities, covertly preserving on film the reality of life in the ghetto, at the possible risk of his own life.
August 20, 2019
Skokie Review | Dr. Ruth makes appearance at Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie: ‘Hitler lost the war and he’s dead. I have four grandchildren.’
Dr. Ruth Westheimer appeared Aug. 15 at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie to talk about her life and her own personal connection to the Holocaust. A 4-foot, 7-inch bundle of energy, Westheimer, who turned 91 in June, maintains a busy schedule of speaking and writing.
August 7, 2019
WBEZ Worldview | How The Legacy Of Slavery Informs Law Enforcement
This segment is part of an ongoing collaboration between Worldview and the Illinois Holocaust Museum, as Worldview celebrates 25 years and the museum celebrates 10.
July 29, 2019
Skokie Review | Holocaust Museum hosts Sisters of Story at Peace Garden dedication
The Peace Garden at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie, with its diverse plantings and inspirational quotes, is designed for reflection. That makes the dedication of this special space on Aug. 27 a perfect setting for a performance of “Keeping Faith” by Sisters of Story.
July 24, 2019
Chicago Catholic | Words Matter
On July 4, I visited Auschwitz with Fritzie Fritzshall, president of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie — and a survivor of the Nazi death camp. “How could this happen?” she asked me not long after we arrived. “How could people turn on their neighbors?”
July 15, 2019
Daily Herald | Feder: ABC 7’s Alan Krashesky documents survivor’s ‘Return to Auschwitz’
Over his 37 years as a news anchor and reporter for ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, Alan Krashesky has traveled the world more times than he can recall. But few assignments affected him as deeply as his journey earlier this month to the Auschwitz death camp with Holocaust survivor Fritzie Weiss Fritzshall, Robert Feder writes.
July 14, 2019
ABC 7 Eyewitness News | Holocaust survivor Fritzie Fritzshall returns to Auschwitz with Cardinal Blase Cupich
Anchor/Reporter Alan Krashesky travels to notorious death camp with Museum President and Holocaust Survivor Fritzie Fritzshall and Cardinal Blase Cupich to report exclusively in three-part news series and half-hour news special.
June 27, 2019
The Highland Park Landmark | Illinois Holocaust Museum adds audio tour
Their stories are true. They really happened. They are the stories of survivors, liberators, and rescuers of the Holocaust, one of the darkest moments in history. Visitors can hear some of the survivors talk about their gripping, personal experiences in their own voices at the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s recent unveiling of a captivating audio tour.
June 5, 2019
Chicago Tribune | Iconoclastic Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, who shaped the city with his buildings and ideas, dies at 88
His major buildings include the Illinois Holocaust Memorial Museum and Education Center in Skokie; the Chicago Bar Assocation headquarters, designed with McCurry; and the Anti-Cruelty Society, whose windows resemble the cheeks of a basset hound.
June 4, 2019
WTTW| Stanley Tigerman, Renowned Chicago Architect, Dies at 88
Tigerman was as famous for his personality as he was for his buildings, private homes and public buildings that showed post-modernism’s tendency for humor, irreverence and invention. His work includes the Illinois Holocaust Memorial Museum and Education Center in Skokie; and in River North, the Anti-Cruelty Society and Hard Rock Café.
June 3, 2019
Chicago Sun-Times| Stanley Tigerman, a pillar of Chicago architecture, has died at 88
The Chicago native designed more than 450 buildings and installations. Among them were the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, the Pacific Garden Mission homeless shelter in the South Loop and the modernist Boardwalk Apartments high-rise in Uptown.
June 3, 2019
Chicago Tribune| Shout Out: Wendy Singer, director of education at Illinois Holocaust Museum
Wendy Singer, 42, of Skokie is director of education for the Illinois Holocaust Museum. She lives in Skokie with her husband and two daughters. She started her new job in May.
May 31, 2019
Chicago Tribune| From the community: Bringing Home Lessons on Peace from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Kelley, the Vice President of Education and Exhibitions at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, spoke at length about the factors leading up to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Estimates range from 800,000 to 1,000,000 for the number of people killed over the course of 100 days.
May 22, 2019
WBBM | Defiant Pfleger To Visit Holocaust Museum — With A Catch
May 22, 2019
Fox News |Pfleger to visit Holocaust Museum after backlash for hosting Louis Farrakhan
The Holocaust Museum and the DuSable are already collaborating on a current exhibit at the north suburban institution, called “Purchased Lives, the American Slave Trade 1808-1865.” It underscores how important museums can be in a multi-racial, multi-cultural society. The enslavement of Africans and the Nazi drive to exterminate Jews took place a long time ago. The effects of those atrocities, though, remain with us.
May 10, 2019
Associated Press |Farrakhan delivers insult while denying he’s anti-Semitic
Museum president and Holocaust survivor Fritzie Fritzshall said when community leaders like Pfleger provide a platform for bigotry and anti-Semitism, “it increases the threat against all of humanity.”
May 9, 2019
Chicago Tribune |Louis Farrakhan speaks at St. Sabina Catholic Church following Facebook ban
Earlier this week, Pfleger invited Farrakhan to speak Thursday evening at St. Sabina Catholic Church and respond to being banned from Facebook. Alarmed by Pfleger’s invitation for Farrakhan to speak at his church, Illinois Holocaust Museum officials spoke out Thursday afternoon against Pfleger for “giving hatred a platform.”
May 2, 2019
Chicago Tribune |We must be vigilant in fighting anti-Semitism
As an organization committed to fighting bigotry and hatred, the Illinois Holocaust Museum understands the dangers of unchecked anti-Semitism. We will continue to do our part in educating students, teachers and all our visitors, but eliminating hate will only happen when the media, political leaders on both sides of the aisle, and the community at large come together and learn from history’s horrible mistakes. — Ken Cooper, vice president of development, and Kelley Szany, vice president of education and exhibitions, Illinois Holocaust Museum
April 30, 2019
WTTW | How Technology Helps Preserve the Testimony of Holocaust Survivors
For many Holocaust survivors, who experienced the brutal consequences of anti-Semitism at its height, the greatest antidote to the current swell of hate is sharing their stories.
April 30, 2019
Chicago Tribune |The Holocaust and ‘Why?’ Elie Wiesel’s provocative answer.
There’s a passage in a new book about Holocaust scholar and survivor Elie Wiesel that is at once frustrating and satisfying in its ambiguity and anger. It happens when the author, Howard Reich, amid many conversations with Wiesel, asks Wiesel the inevitable suite of questions.
April 25, 2019
Chicago Jewish News |SHEERIT HAPLEITAH TO HOST HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL OBSERVANCE…
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Since April 2009, the museum has served more than one million visitors through exhibitions, education and public programming.
April 24, 2019
Chicago Tribune |My four years with Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel, what I learned and the book that followed
How do we speak of the Holocaust? How do we talk to our parents about it? How do we deal with the guilt of knowing what our parents suffered? How does anyone maintain faith — in religion or humanity — after what happened? How does one sustain hope in the face of despair?
April 14, 2019
Ravalli Republic |Bitterroot Public Library hosts interactive Holocaust exhibit; students invited to understand history
For the last two months, the Bitterroot Public Library has invited over 250 local students to participate in a Holocaust Interactive Exhibit.
April 12, 2019
Better |Better Makers: President Bill Clinton Headlines Illinois Holocaust Museum’s 10th Anniversary Humanitarian Awards Dinner
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is playing a vital role in educating the public and combating hatred and prejudice in all forms.
March 28, 2019
JUF News |Looking back on the first decade of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
As Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches on May 2, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is marking 10 years in its state-of-the-art 65,000-square-foot Skokie home. The nation’s second-largest Holocaust museum–and the world’s third-largest–features groundbreaking exhibits and education programs.
March 19, 2019
Wandering Educators |History Comes Alive Touring Chicago’s North Shore
Chicago is known for its world-class museums and attractions. During a first visit, most people will seek out the attractions nearest their downtown accommodations. Repeat visitors and those staying farther north can add a few places on Chicago’s North Shore to their itinerary.
March 18, 2019
Patch |Plainfield Teacher, Holocaust Survivor Grandma Meet Bill Clinton
Aux Sable teacher Jessica Matas and her grandmother, Holocaust survivor Magda Brown, met the former president last week.
March 14, 2019
Daily North Shore |ILHMEC Young Professional Committee Annual Benefit
The Young Professional Committee (YPC) of Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center welcomed 350 guests during its annual benefit headlined by stand-up magician Derek Hughes.
March 13, 2019
Chicago Tribune |Illinois Holocaust Museum dinner enlists former President Clinton to honor survivors
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center celebrated its 10th anniversary Humanitarian Awards Dinner on March 13 at the Hyatt Regency before a sellout crowd of 2,035 business, civic and community leaders that included over 200 Holocaust survivors. Former President Bill Clinton joined Gov. J.B. Pritzker onstage for a Q&A following an evening of music, dinner, moving videos and emotional tributes.
March 12, 2019
Chicago Sun-Times | Let your voice be heard in condemning anti-Semitism
It is exactly 80 years since the hateful New York rally and days since the Chicago rally. Please be an “upstander” today.
Fritzie Fritzshall, president, Illinois Holocaust Museum
March 11, 2019
Chicago Tribune | We need to combat farms’ antibiotic overuse
Anti-Semitic attacks and other hate crimes against minority groups are on the rise in our country, and virulent rhetoric is often the precursor to broader expressions of physical harm.
March 5, 2019
Chicago Tribune |Boris Kacel, Holocaust survivor, dies at 97
Boris Kacel, a Holocaust survivor who emigrated to the Chicago area where he started his own electrical company, died last month. He was 97.
March 5, 2019
Chicago Tribune | Skokie forum focuses on community violence and prevention efforts
Phil Andrew talks with Katie Sullivan and Burrell Poe, both of Chicago, at a panel on violence in Skokie on Feb. 19, 2019.
February 20, 2019
Daily North Shore | Never Forget
To forget would be wrong. The museum speaks for 6 million slain European Jews, death camp survivors, and their relatives when it makes that case.
February 20, 2019
Chicago Tribune | ‘Purchased Lives’ at Holocaust Museum tells America’s tale of human trafficking — after overseas slave trade ended
“Purchased Lives,” the new exhibition about the slave trade within America at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, has dozens of ways to break your heart and dozens more to boil your blood.
February 19, 2019
WBEZ | Illinois Holocaust Museum Educates On Domestic Slave Trade
Joining us from the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center to share insights into bringing Purchased Lives to Chicago are Arielle Weininger, chief curator of collections and exhibitions, and Kelley Szany, vice president of education and exhibitions.
February 19, 2019
WGN | Around Town visits the ‘Purchased Lives: The American Slave Trade from 1808 to 1865’ exhibit
Illinois Holocaust Museum consistently uses special exhibitions to tell stories of inhumanity and resilience, both historical and present-day. Purchased Lives, combined with its related programming, facilitates a broader conversation about the legacies of the American slave trade and their manifestations in today’s world.
February 14, 2019
Chicago Reader |”Purchased Lives” at the Illinois Holocaust Museum connects the slave trade to the reality of the present
People think slavery is a southern story. It’s not a southern story. It’s an American story.
February 12, 2019
WTTW |Illinois Holocaust Museum Opens Exhibit on American Slave Trade
Rare objects from a New Orleans historical group are now on display in Skokie. They are on loan to the Illinois Holocaust Museum, which just opened its first exhibition on slavery. Chicago Tonight visited for an early look.
February 12, 2019
Chicago Tribune | Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie opens exhibit on the American slave trade
Talking about a new exhibit on the American slave trade at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center are Arielle Weininger, chief curator of collections and exhibitions, and Erin Greenwald, vice president of content at Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
Read online>
February 11, 2019
WBEZ Morning Edition | Illinois Holocaust Museum Acknowledging America’s Painful Institution Of Slavery
This week, the Illinois Holocaust Museum in north suburban Skokie opened a special exhibit that sheds light into the horrors of selling, buying, and trading human beings and the financial profit of domestic enslavement between 1808 and 1865.
Read online>
February 11, 2019
NBC Chicago | Illinois Holocaust Museum Opens Its First Slavery Exhibition
The Illinois Holocaust Museum opens its first temporary exhibition on slavery and it reveals just how widespread slavery was; impacting families around the country. NBC 5’s LeeAnn Trotter has the details.
Read online>
January 25, 2019
WGN Radio | Amanda Friedeman on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Amanda Friedeman, Harvey L. Miller Family Youth Educator at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, joins the Bill and Wendy show to talk about the importance of the Holocaust, why we still need to teach young people about it, why remembering the Holocaust matters now more than ever, and much more.
Read online>
January 23, 2019
CBS | Holocaust Museum Opens its First Slavery Exhibit: ‘Purchased Lives’
A gripping account of the slave trade, its injustices, its pain and impact on enslaved families across the country is the subject of a new exhibit coming to the Illinois Holocaust Museum.
Read online>
January 12, 2019
Associated Press | Technology brings images of Holocaust survivors to life
The recollections of the Dallas resident who as a Jew in Poland survived the Warsaw Ghetto and Nazi concentration camps are now being preserved in a way that will allow generations to come to ask his image questions.
Read online>
January 2, 2019
WTTW | 10 Things to Do This Weekend
Teddy bears, dolls, airline tickets and diaries are among the items brought to America by survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides. More than 60 such personal artifacts are displayed in the exhibit “Stories of Survival: Object. Image. Memory.”
Read online>
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