How do we relate to—and hold—our family’s past? Is it through technology? Through spirit? Art, poetry, music? Or is it through the resonances we look for in ourselves? In Artificial, we meet the Kurzweils, a family of creators who are preserving their history through unusual means. At the center is renowned inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, who has long been saving the documents of his deceased father, Fredric, an accomplished conductor and pianist from Vienna who fled the Nazis in 1938. Once, Fred’s life was saved by his art: an American benefactor, impressed by Fred’s musical genius, sponsored his emigration to the United States just before Kristallnacht. Now, Fred has returned. Through AI and salvaged writing, Ray is building a chatbot that writes in Fred’s voice, and he enlists his daughter, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil, to help him ensure the immortality of their family’s fraught inheritance. Amy’s deepening understanding of her family’s traumatic uprooting resonates with the creative life she fights to claim in the present, as Amy and her partner, Jacob, chase jobs, and each other, across the country. Kurzweil evokes an understanding of accomplishment that centers conversation and connection, knowing and being known by others.
Kurzweil will be in conversation about her book with cartoonist and comedy writer Jason Adam Katzenstein.
In this exclusive program, members will be guided through our permanent exhibit The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do focusing explicitly on the role of laws, lawyers, judges, and law enforcement officers in Germany and occupied territories. Special attention will be paid to the role of these professions in the furtherment of antisemitism and genocide throughout the Holocaust.
This exhibition tour will be led by Leah Dukes, Museum Educator Manager.
Leah Dukes is a trained academic historian and earned her BA in history and BS in secondary education from the College of Charleston; MA in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Stockton University; and is currently a doctoral candidate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College where she is finishing her dissertation.
Members do not need to sign-in when registering.
In the spring of 1939, a Jewish couple from Philadelphia traveled into the heart of Nazi Germany to carry out a daring mission – rescuing Jewish children from the oncoming horrors of the Holocaust and bringing them to safety in the United States.
Nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Historical Programming, 50 Children tells the never-before-told story of Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus and how they were able to save the lives of a group of young children who otherwise would likely have perished in the Holocaust.
Following the screening, there will be a talkback with the film's director and producer, Steven Pressman.
The Allied leaders rarely spoke directly about the Holocaust in public. When Churchill and Stalin alluded to Nazi mass murder of civilians in early speeches, they said much less than they knew. Not until December 1942 did Allied governments issue a joint statement about Nazi Germany’s policy of exterminating the Jews of Europe. Roosevelt deferred his own public statement until March 1944. Why didn’t these leaders speak up sooner?
Through close readings of public and private statements,
Richard Breitman, an acclaimed author and distinguished emeritus professor at American University, pieces together the competing motivations that drove each leader’s response to the atrocities. Timely and incisive,
A Calculated Restraint sheds new light on the relationship between World War II and the Holocaust. Ultimately, the Allied leaders’ responses cannot be reduced to a matter of character. What they said—and chose not to say—about the Holocaust must be understood in light of the political and military exigencies that drove their decision-making.
Breitman will be in conversation about the book with Rick Salomon, a co-founder of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Senior Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Renew Democracy Initiative.
The Allied leaders rarely spoke directly about the Holocaust in public. When Churchill and Stalin alluded to Nazi mass murder of civilians in early speeches, they said much less than they knew. Not until December 1942 did Allied governments issue a joint statement about Nazi Germany’s policy of exterminating the Jews of Europe. Roosevelt deferred his own public statement until March 1944. Why didn’t these leaders speak up sooner?
Through close readings of public and private statements,
Richard Breitman, an acclaimed author and distinguished emeritus professor at American University, pieces together the competing motivations that drove each leader’s response to the atrocities. Timely and incisive,
A Calculated Restraint sheds new light on the relationship between World War II and the Holocaust. Ultimately, the Allied leaders’ responses cannot be reduced to a matter of character. What they said—and chose not to say—about the Holocaust must be understood in light of the political and military exigencies that drove their decision-making.
Breitman will be in conversation about the book with Rick Salomon, a co-founder of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Senior Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Renew Democracy Initiative.
Visitors have access to all exhibitions in the Museum at any time during opening hours. Click here to see all exhibitions on view.
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COVID-19 Safety Guidelines: Please review our Health and Safety page before planning your visit for more information on our visitation guidelines.
We provide free admission to Holocaust Survivors, active members of the military, first responders, and NYC DOE K-12 students. If this applies to you, please contact us at 646-437-4202 to schedule your visit.
We also accept the Sightseeing Pass and the Go City Pass, please bring your pass to the Museum for free admission.
Groups of 15 or more must book through the Group Tours page.
What Do I Do With All This Heritage? is the first-ever theatre show to explore the lives of Asian American Jews, a whimsical and thought-provoking journey into their lives as they reveal their true stories of holding two age-old traditions in their hearts.
What Do I Do With All This Heritage? is the first-ever theatre show to explore the lives of Asian American Jews, a whimsical and thought-provoking journey into their lives as they reveal their true stories of holding two age-old traditions in their hearts.
In Two Sisters, Rosie Whitehouse recounts the harrowing journey of her mother-in-law, Marion, and aunt, Huguette, who fled Nazi-occupied France after their mother was deported to Auschwitz. Seeking refuge, the sisters found themselves in Val d'Isère, where a courageous stranger, Dr. Frédéric Pétri, saved their lives. Whitehouse meticulously pieces together her family's tragic history while probing ethical questions about courage and complicity during the Holocaust. Through vivid storytelling, she highlights the risks taken by individuals like Dr. Pétri to protect Jewish lives amid the horrors of Vichy France and her contemporary quest to recognize Dr. Pétri as a Righteous Among Nations.
Two women in Nazi-occupied Paris created a daring escape line that rescued dozens of Allied servicemen. With one still in a German prison camp, the other wrote a book about it—a memoir built on fabrications. Now the bestselling author of Eighty Days shares their incredible, never-before-told full story.
Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous are the unlikeliest of heroines: two seemingly ordinary women, an American widow and an English divorcée, living quietly together in Paris. Yet during the Nazi occupation, these two friends find themselves unexpectedly plunged into the whirlwind of history. With the help of a French country priest and others, they set out to rescue British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines—some of whom they daringly smuggle through Nazi checkpoints hidden inside the trunk of their car.
Ultimately the Gestapo captures them both. After eighteen months in prison, Etta is returned to the United States in a prisoner exchange. Back home, hoping to bring attention to her friend Kitty’s bravery, she publishes a memoir about their work. Paris-Underground becomes a publishing sensation and Etta a celebrity. Meanwhile Kate spends the rest of the war in a Nazi prison, entirely unaware of the book that has been written about her—and the deeds that have been claimed in her name.
In researching this story, Matthew Goodman uncovered military records and personal testimonies that reveal, for the first time, the shocking truth behind Etta’s memoir and the unexpected, far-reaching consequences of its publication. More than just a story of two women’s remarkable courage, Paris Undercover is a vivid, gripping account of deceit, betrayal, and personal redemption.
Join us on this livestreamed, virtual tour of Tbilisi, Georgia, where we’ll celebrate the heritage of the city’s Jewish community and its profound impact on history. We will journey into the heart of Tbilisi, where our expert guide will illuminate the diverse architectural influences that shape the city’s Jewish landscape. We’ll uncover hidden and historical gems such as the revered Blue Synagogue and the evocative remnants of Jewish life preserved within the walls of the Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theater. Co-presented with Wowzitude.
SABBATH QUEEN, a feature documentary filmed over 21 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. SABBATH QUEEN joins Amichai on a lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy and supremacy, champion interfaith love, and stand up for peace. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.
Sabbath Queen is now in 65 film festivals, 50 cinemas, received a New York Times Critic’s Pick and was named one of the New York Times’ favorite films of the 21st century, and has won 8 awards including Boston Jewish Film Festival's Audience Award for Best Documentary and UK Jewish Film Festival's Best Documentary.
The screening will be followed by a talkback with Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie and Sandi DuBowski.
Amid the brutality of the Holocaust, one bright spot shone inside the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. In the shadows of the smokestacks was a wooden hut where children sang, staged plays, wrote poetry, and learned about the world. Within those four walls, brightly adorned with hand-painted cartoons, the youngest prisoners were kept vermin-free, received better food, and were even taught to imagine having full stomachs and a day without fear. Their guiding light was a twenty-seven-year-old gay, Jewish athlete: Fredy Hirsch.
Being a teacher in a brutal concentration camp was no mean feat. Forced to beg senior SS officers for better provisions, Fredy risked his life every day to protect his beloved children from mortal danger.
But time was running out for Fredy and the hundreds in his care. Could this kind, compassionate, and brave man find a way to teach them the one lesson they really needed to know: how to survive?
The Teacher of Auschwitz shines a light on a truly remarkable individual and tells the inspiring story of how he fought to protect innocence and hope amid depravity and despair.
Join us as we continue our exploration of Jewish life in London, moving beyond Whitechapel to uncover another historically rich area that shaped the Jewish experience in the city. This follow-up tour offers fresh stories, new perspectives, and deeper insight into how the community flourished across different generations and neighborhoods.
Our guide, Sam, returns to share compelling tales of tradition, transformation, and everyday life. From influential figures to local heroes, and from places of worship to community institutions that played a vital role in Jewish London. Along the way, you’ll discover architectural gems, cultural landmarks, and hidden corners that connect past to present.
Whether you joined us for Part One or are tuning in for the first time, this tour promises a meaningful and engaging look into the diversity and resilience of London’s Jewish heritage. Co-presented with
Wowzitude.
Discover a powerful, untold chapter of Holocaust history and a daughter's enduring quest to know the story that began a generation before her birth. From childhood, Julie Brill struggled to understand how her father survived as a young Jewish boy in Belgrade, where Nazis murdered 90 percent of the Jewish population without gas chambers or cattle cars. Through exacting research, a bit of luck, and three emotional trips to Serbia, she pieces together her family's lost past, unearths secrets, and returns to her father a small part of what the Nazis stole: his own family history.