Holocaust Museum Houston

EXHIBITIONS - Holocaust Museum Houston's permanent exhibit, "Bearing Witness: A Community Remembers" is personalized with testimony of Holocaust Survivors who later settled in the Houston area. The Gallery features artifacts donated by Holocaust Survivors, their descendants, liberators, and other collectors and was recently expanded to incorporate two of the Museum's most important artifacts, the World War II-era railcar and the 1940's Danish rescue boat. The Museum has three additional permanent exhibitions: the Lester and Sue Smith Human Rights Gallery, And Still I Write: Young Diarists on War and Genocide, and the Samuel Bak Gallery & Learning Center. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 the Museum hosted six temporary exhibits including Charlotte Salomon: Life? Or Theater? featuring over 200 pieces of small paintings created by Charlotte Salomon between 1940 and 1942 while hiding from Nazi oppressors as creative release and artistic self-expression. The Life and Art of Alice Lok Cahana showcasing the artwork of celebrated artist, Houston resident and Holocaust Survivor Alice Lok Cahana, who used collage and abstract visual language to memorialize the dead and show the triumph of the human spirit. "I'll Have What She's Having": The Jewish Deli exploring how American Jews imported traditions, culture, and cuisine from Central and Eastern Europe which built community through the experience of food.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING - Holocaust Museum Houston offers a variety of lectures, panel discussions and film viewings for public attendance. 82 programs were attended by approximately 3,000 people. The Museum hosted a keynote address by civil rights leader, filmmaker, author, and faith leader Valarie Kaur to discuss her book, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love, as well as her Revolutionary Love Project, which equips people across the US to build anti-racist communities. The staged reading of While Childhood Slept followed the true story of the boys of Home Number One, as they create art, poetry, and short stories in a secret republic while interned in Terezin. During White Supremacy in 2022, host Ernie Manouse discussed the groundbreaking lawsuit against the neo-Nazis responsible for the Charlottesville violence in 2017 with Executive Director of Integrity First for America, Amy Spitalnick. Standing in solidarity with Houston's Asian Community, the Museum hosted Moving Forward: Challenging Racism Conference where the history of Asian Americans was considered in light of recent events and participants discussed how we move forward together, beyond racism, to a society that fosters equality and social justice for all.

EDUCATION - Holocaust Museum Houston reached approximately 32,000 students and 1,300 teachers using a variety of educational programs. The Museum developed a corps of educators to effectively teach about the Holocaust and other genocides by hosting various fellowships where eminent scholars provide historical and academic content while university faculty, as well as Museum staff, provide pedagogical context. Through the Educator in Motion (EIM) program Museum staff travel to schools or conduct long-distance video learning sessions to deliver interactive lessons that incorporate social studies, language arts and fine arts concepts to support student engagement, enhance content knowledge and comprehension and promote the development of individual and civic responsibility. EIM was delivered in English and Spanish through 615 sessions in 36 school districts including 107 schools. The Engines of Change Student Ambassador Program introduces Houston-area high school students to Holocaust history and enables them to better understand current issues and to develop their own informed opinions and voices about the perils of hatred, prejudice and apathy.

Holocaust Museum Houston Library Services provides bilingual research materials serving the needs of students and researchers of all ages. The collection houses over 10,000 items relating to the Holocaust, human rights, and genocide. The library also provides access to nearly 300 oral testimonies. These primary-source video interviews tell the stories of people who experienced the Holocaust, including survivors, liberators, and witnesses. Holocaust Museum Houston Visitor and Volunteer Services trains volunteers and docents to enhance the visitor's experience using their knowledge of the galleries and exhibition content. They stand as Museum ambassadors teaching how each of us can emulate upstander behavior.