Plunderer is a feature-length documentary that focuses on the career of Bruno Lohse, a Nazi art dealer who served as Göring’s art agent in Paris and headed the ERR, the Nazis’ clearinghouse for confiscated art in France. Captured and interrogated by the Monuments Men after the war, Lohse served a brief prison sentence. Following his release, he profitably dealt in stolen art for sixty years, selling to collectors, galleries, and major museums. The film includes stories of Holocaust survivors working to reclaim their families’ lost artworks and examines the continuity between the post-war era and the contemporary art world and its secretive culture.
Following the screening, there will be a talkback with producer John S. Friedman, journalist Michelle Young, producer Dr. David Milch, and executive producer Charles Knapp.
From Berlin to the Bronx, from Holocaust survivor to American success story, Georgette Bennett's new book Half-Jew, Full Life traces the extraordinary life of Gary “Pips” Phillips who defied the odds at every turn. With an Aryan mother and Jewish father, Pips could have escaped much of the Holocaust’s horrors. Instead, he made a fateful decision at age 13 to become a bar mitzvah just as the Nuremberg Laws were enacted, effectively choosing to be labeled a Jew under Nazi rule. Pips’s wartime experience is marked by daring escapes, improbable rescues, and survival while hiding deep within Nazi Berlin. Captured four times, he escaped thrice, choosing to remain in Nazi custody the fourth time as there was nowhere to run in bombed-out Berlin. At his place of confinement, he met his future wife, Olga Horvath, who had been imprisoned after surviving Auschwitz and the Death March to Bergen Belsen. After their marriage in chaotic post-war Berlin, they emigrated to the USA to start a new life.
Arriving in New York with nothing, Pips rose from waiter to co-owner of the world’s largest photo agency—despite never owning a camera. Unlike Pips, Olga was unable to escape the shadow of her Holocaust experiences, and in a horrifying twist, she threw herself off the roof of their gleaming luxury high-rise after more than 50 years of marriage, leaving Pips grief-stricken, but also able to reinvent himself one more time. This dramatic story brims with chance, love, loss, resilience, and reinvention, culminating in a poignant exploration of Jewish identity, memory, and legacy.
Bennett will be in conversation about the book with award-winning singer-songwriter, Judy Collins.
Join us for a live and interactive journey through Munich, Germany, explored through the lens of Jewish Heritage. Led by our guide in real time, we will walk through the heart of the city to uncover the centuries old presence of Jewish life in Bavaria, from early community beginnings to cultural growth, intellectual contribution, and the devastating impact of the Nazi era. As we explore historic streets and significant sites, we will reflect on Munich’s complex role in twentieth century history while also highlighting stories of resilience, remembrance, and renewal. Along the way, we will discover how Jewish individuals and families shaped the cultural, economic, and civic life of the city, and how contemporary Munich honors its past while fostering a vibrant Jewish community today, all experienced together live and interactive. Co-presented with Wowzitude.
Join us for a live and interactive Jewish heritage journey through Warsaw, Poland, with a meaningful focus on the history and legacy of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Led by our guide in real time, we will walk through the streets of the former ghetto area, exploring where daily life once unfolded for hundreds of thousands of Jewish residents before the devastation of the Holocaust. As we stand in the places where acts of courage and resistance took place in 1943, we will reflect on the extraordinary bravery of those who rose up against overwhelming odds in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Along the way, we will discuss the historical context of prewar Jewish Warsaw, the creation of the ghetto under Nazi occupation, and the enduring legacy of remembrance carried forward at sites such as the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Together, we will honor the resilience, humanity, and strength of a community whose story continues to shape Jewish identity and collective memory, experienced live and interactive as we explore Warsaw today. Co-presented with Wowzitude.
Research Assistance at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center
The Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center is the physical presence of JewishGen, the genealogical research division of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
Our professional genealogists, who are experts in family history research, are here to guide and assist you, whether you are just starting your search or digging deeper into your family tree. With unlimited access to JewishGen’s powerful online tools and many other essential resources, the Kalikow Center is your personalized launchpad for discovery.
Here, your family’s past comes to life. Genealogical research—especially Jewish family history—can be a fascinating but complex journey, filled with hidden details, unfamiliar languages, and elusive records. That’s where we come in.
Come with questions. Leave with stories. Your history is waiting—let the Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center help you discover it.
The center is open on:
Wednesdays at 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Thursdays at 12:00 – 4:00 pm & 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Sundays 10:00 am – 12:30 pm & 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
We encourage you to make a reservation. Walk-ins are also welcome on a first-come, first-served basis.
Museum admission is required to visit the center.
Free for Museum members.
One ticket per appointment. For additional guests, please book another spot here or visit the Museum Admissions Desk.
Please feel free to complete this optional form to help us better prepare for your visit.
Combining magical realism and evocative hand-drawn animation with revelatory interviews and verité footage, Among Neighbors examines the story of a small, rural town where Jews and Polish Catholics lived side by side for centuries before World War II. The film brings the Polish response to the Holocaust to life through the last living eyewitnesses, revealing both love and betrayal as it zeroes in on one of the last living Holocaust survivors from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there - not by Nazis, but by her own Polish neighbors. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Potash (Crime After Crime, Sundance Film Festival).
Museum Members
Visitors have access to all exhibitions at the Museum at any time during opening hours. Click here to see all exhibitions on view.
To reserve free admission, please select your ticket type below and Add to Cart. You may visit at any time between 4-8PM on the day of your reservation.
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Sign in at the top right corner of this page. If you do not already have an online account with us, please create an account using your member email. Your Member discounts will be reflected in your cart at checkout.
Not a member? Join today or email membership@mjhnyc.org for assistance.
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.
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Join the Museum of Jewish Heritage for the next part of our professional development miniseries, "The Holocaust: One Year at a Time," with an in-depth examination of 1943.
Participation in this program is CTLE credit eligible. This program has a one-time tax-deductible fee of $18.00. The Educator Scholarship to cover the fee is available to those eligible. See below for details.
Educator Scholarship: This one-time scholarship is available to current educators, retired educators, and students currently enrolled at an academic institution. To apply for a scholarship to cover the cost of admission to the program, please email: education@mjhnyc.org
Join the Museum of Jewish Heritage and Center for Jewish History for the next part of our professional development miniseries, "The Holocaust: One Year at a Time," with an in-depth examination of 1944.
In this virtual program, we will explore the story of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a Holocaust survivor who played in the Auschwitz orchestra. Through primary sources, testimony, and lesson plans, we will explore pedagogy for bringing this into your classroom.
Participants will receive CTLE credit.
The program is free, but pre-registration is required by May 5.
Join the Museum of Jewish Heritage for a virtual panel discussion on the change in storytelling as the baton is passed from survivor testimony to their children. This panel will focus on three documentary films – Family Treasures Lost and Found, directed by Marcia Rock and produced by Karen A. Frenkel, My Underground Mother, directed by Marisa Fox and UnBroken, directed by Beth Lane - all created from a second-generation perspective.
Marisa Fox, Karen A. Frenkel, and Beth Lane will be in conversation about their films with Professor Avinoam Patt, Director of the NYU Center for the Study of Antisemitism.
This unique performance is the culmination of eight months of heartfelt collaboration between four Holocaust survivors and high school students. The diverse group of high school students will portray stories of the Holocaust survivors who survived Auschwitz concentration camp, ghetto life in Hungary, persecution in the Netherlands, and antisemitism in Morocco. Through the lens of the survivors’ childhood stories, group members explore issues of war, loss, trauma, and resilience while forming deep and meaningful relationships that dissolve the barriers between generations. On stage, students will re-enact wartime experiences while survivors will narrate their stories.
To commemorate Yom HaShoah in 2026,The Claims Conference and the Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust are excited to launch a new global film series,“Strength of Courage.”
Our cultural program features important Shoah films that bring the lessons and memory ofthe Holocaust to life through the artistry of their filmmakers. These screenings will educate, inspire meaningful discussions, and enable viewers to develop a deeper understanding of the Shoah victims' and survivors' experiences.
The film series will bring these films to all five boroughs of New York City, as well as Berlin, Frankfurt, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, from April 13–20, 2026.The NYC events will kick off on April 14, 2026, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
As a supporter of over 230 Holocaust film grants and the leading funder of Holocaust education globally, the Claims Conference has supported award-winning films that premiered at top global festivals and have been screened or streamed in countries around the world.The series will feature screenings of these powerful Holocaust-themed films, each followed by panel discussions with filmmakers and subject-matter experts to highlight the urgency of Holocaust education at this moment. Each event will include a reception and a post‑screening conversation moderated by a panel featuring the filmmaker and scholars.
The global screenings will include profiles on strength, courage and the resilience found during and in the aftermath of World War II. The theme for this inaugural global film series, Strength of Courage, reflects the indomitable spirit of individuals whose resilience shone through in humanity’s darkest times. Across all venues, the films screened will illuminate acts of bravery, whether in survival, resistance or rebuilding, highlighting that courage isn’t just found in grand gestures but in every choice to stand up for human dignity. Strength of courage is timeless, universal and a timely spark of hope the world needs.
To commemorate Yom HaShoah in 2026, The Claims Conference and the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust are excited to launch a new global film series, “Strength of Courage.”
Our cultural program features important Shoah films that bring the lessons and memory of the Holocaust to life through the artistry of their filmmakers. These screenings will educate, inspire meaningful discussions, and enable viewers to develop a deeper understanding of the Shoah victims' and survivors' experiences.
Join us for a special screening of three short films: See You Soon, Sevap/Mitzvah, and Inked: Our Stories Remarked. The screening will be followed by a conversation with filmmakers and scholars.
Schedule:
5:30-6:00 PM: Reception
6:00-8:00 PM: Screening and Talkback
Join the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation in celebrating the 22nd Annual NYC Immigrant Heritage Week.
Stephen Lean, Director, American Family Immigration History Center at the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation will present a lecture on the enduring legacies of Jewish immigrants in New York City. Lean will highlight the immigrant connections to various landmarks, buildings, artworks, and performers that have shaped New York City’s cultural landscape.
Following Lean’s presentation, Tamar Rabinowitz, Senior Curator at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, will spotlight objects from the Museum’s collection that highlight the role of Jewish immigrants in shaping the culture and identity of New York City.
"Szyk’s once-celebrated illustrations—art both deeply Jewish and strikingly universal—powerfully exposed the devastating harms of fascism, racism, and antisemitism. This compelling, fascinating, and timely memoir now amplifies that call, championing artistic freedom while celebrating art’s indispensable inspiration to resist tyranny and sustain democracy and liberty across the globe." - David Saperstein, Former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
During World War II, the Polish-Jewish immigrant Arthur Szyk became America’s leading anti-Nazi artist. His art was so effective that Adolf Hitler reportedly put a bounty on his head while the US military declared him a “citizen-soldier” of the free world. Szyk steadfastly fought for the rescue of European Jewry during the Holocaust, creating artworks like De Profundis, which imagines Jesus sharing the suffering of countless lifeless Jews. His civil rights art challenged segregation, and his illuminated Declaration of Independence resides in the Library of Congress. Szyk’s masterwork, an illustrated Passover Haggadah, is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful books ever produced by human hands.
Once world-famous, Arthur Szyk was all but forgotten after he died in 1951. Reviving the Artist Who Fought Hitler recounts Irvin Ungar's decades-long journey to restore Szyk to public consciousness and become the principal collector, dealer, scholar, and promoter of Szyk’s art in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Richly illustrated and full of forgotten history, this memoir is an inspiring story of artistic passion and an invitation to commune with a heroic advocate for all humanity.
To commemorate Yom HaShoah in 2026,The Claims Conference and the Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust are excited to launch a new global film series,“Strength of Courage.”
Our cultural program features important Shoah films that bring the lessons and memory ofthe Holocaust to life through the artistry of their filmmakers. These screenings will educate, inspire meaningful discussions, and enable viewers to develop a deeper understanding of the Shoah victims' and survivors' experiences.
The film series will bring these films to all five boroughs of New York City, as well as Berlin, Frankfurt, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, from April 13–20, 2026.The NYC events will kick off on April 14, 2026, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
As a supporter of over 230 Holocaust film grants and the leading funder of Holocaust education globally, the Claims Conference has supported award-winning films that premiered at top global festivals and have been screened or streamed in countries around the world. The series will feature screenings of these powerful Holocaust-themed films, each followed by panel discussions with filmmakers and subject-matter experts to highlight the urgency of Holocaust education at this moment. Each event will include a reception and a post‑screening conversation moderated by a panel featuring the filmmaker and scholars.
The global screenings will include profiles on strength, courage and the resilience found during and in the aftermath of World War II. The theme for this inaugural global film series, Strength of Courage, reflects the indomitable spirit of individuals whose resilience shone through in humanity’s darkest times. Across all venues, the films screened will illuminate acts of bravery, whether in survival, resistance or rebuilding, highlighting that courage isn’t just found in grand gestures but in every choice to stand up for human dignity. Strength of courage is timeless, universal and a timely spark of hope the world needs.
Join Chaskel Tydor Curatorial Intern, Ayelet Kaminer, and Assistant Curator Charlotte Apter for a discussion of the Chaskel Tydor Curatorial Internship and Ayelet’s research at the Museum.
On July 7, 1946, one of his last days as director of the Föhrenwald displaced persons camp, Henry Cohen was given a parting gift: a photo album documenting the camp’s cultural activities. Just twenty-three at the time, Cohen was removed from his post due to a series of conflicts with American military personnel, many of whom openly expressed antisemitic sentiments. In 2000, the album was gifted once more when it was donated to the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Starting with the moment at which it was given to Henry Cohen and concluding with its arrival at the museum, Chaskel Tydor Curatorial Intern Ayelet Kaminer will trace the album’s legacy over the fifty-four years between these bestowals. This talk will also highlight the curatorial choices made by the Föhrenwald refugees in crafting this communal memory object, as well as the album’s afterlives in works such as H. Leivick’s Di khasene in Fernvald and Mit der sheyres ha-pleyteh.
To commemorate Yom HaShoah in 2026, The Claims Conference and the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust are excited to launch a new global film series, “Strength of Courage.”
Our cultural program features important Shoah films that bring the lessons and memory of the Holocaust to life through the artistry of their filmmakers. These screenings will educate, inspire meaningful discussions, and enable viewers to develop a deeper understanding of the Shoah victims' and survivors' experiences.
Join us for a special screening of four films throughout the day: The Spoils, Singing Up the Past, June Zero, and Unearthed. You only have to register once to see all the films.
Schedule:
10:15 AM - 12:00 PM: The Spoils
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM: Singing Up the Past
1:00 PM - 2:45 PM: June Zero
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Unearthed
Yom HaShoah Public Program: Testimony with Holocaust Survivor Celia Kener
Presented by the Museum’s Education Department and the Speakers Bureau
Recommended for Grades 8 through adult. This virtual program will be held on Zoom.
In commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Museum of Jewish Heritage invites you to a special public program featuring survivor and Speakers Bureau member, Celia Kener. This annual observance calls on us to remember the lives lost and honor the stories of those who survived. Hearing testimony is one of the most meaningful ways to mark the day.
Born in 1935 in Lvov, Poland, Celia was just a young child when the German invasion in 1941 shattered her family’s world. Her father was drafted into the Russian army, and Celia, her mother, and extended family were forced into the ghetto. When her mother was selected for a labor camp, weekend visits became their only points of connection. Fearing she might not survive, Celia’s mother made the agonizing decision to place her daughter with a childless Catholic couple who could protect her.
Ms. Kener will share her story, followed by audience Q&A.
This program is recommended for grades 8 through adult and offers an opportunity to engage with history through first-person testimony on this day of remembrance.
Join the Museum of Jewish Heritage for a screening of Hester Street and a discussion with author Dr. Julia Wagner and filmmaker and Columbia professor Ira Deutchman.
Joan Micklin Silver's groundbreaking debut feature film, Hester Street (1975), vividly portrays the immigrant experience through the eyes of Gitl (Carol Kane), a young, Orthodox Jewish woman who arrives in New York City from Eastern Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. Reunited with her already-assimilated husband, Gitl finds they now have little in common and she is forced to adjust to a new way of life in the Lower East Side. Hester Street defied expectations on its release, and shines today as a triumph of independent, feminist filmmaking that changed the face of Jewish American cinema.
Marking the film's 50th anniversary, Dr. Julia Wagner's landmark BFI Film Classics book about Hester Street is the first to focus exclusively on Micklin Silver's film. Wagner will introduce the film and following the screening, she will be in conversation with Ira Deutchman about Joan Micklin Silver’s legacy and the importance and impact of Hester Street.
Signed copies of Hester Street will be available to purchase after the screening.
This unique performance is the culmination of eight months of heartfelt collaboration between four Holocaust survivors and high school students. The diverse group of high school students will portray stories of the Holocaust survivors who survived Auschwitz concentration camp, ghetto life in Hungary, persecution in the Netherlands, and antisemitism in Morocco. Through the lens of the survivors’ childhood stories, group members explore issues of war, loss, trauma, and resilience while forming deep and meaningful relationships that dissolve the barriers between generations. On stage, students will re-enact wartime experiences while survivors will narrate their stories. Join us on April 26th at 2 PM to celebrate the 14th season of Witness Theater!