US Holocaust Memorial Museum
The museum’s website offers educators a wealth of resources for teaching about this sensitive topic. These include detailed lesson plans and a comprehensive Holocaust Encyclopedia. The site is standards aligned and includes teacher guides, tips and techniques.
The museum’s Committee for Conscience works to raise awareness of contemporary genocide and related threats. It also works with civil servants and foreign service officers to develop a sense of moral responsibility.
It is a moving experience
The USHMM has a unique mission in that it promotes knowledge about the Holocaust while also prompting visitors to reflect upon their moral and spiritual responsibilities as citizens of a democracy. It is a powerful museum that can be emotionally overwhelming, so it is important to visit in small groups. The staff can help visitors plan their trip, and there are many special exhibits to choose from.
The permanent exhibition includes photographs, film, documents and artifacts – such as bunks from a barrack at Auschwitz and a milk can hidden by Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. It also features an audio and video archive of more than 9,000 interviews with survivors.
The Hall of Remembrance is especially moving, and is designed to be a place where visitors can pay their respects to those who perished in the Holocaust. It is an emotionally wrenching experience, but one that is well worth the time. In addition, the museum has a number of special exhibits and programs that explore the Holocaust and other issues such as contemporary genocide in Darfur.
It is educational
The Museum offers numerous educational opportunities for school-age students, from field trips to the museum and its Washington, DC area facilities, to a summer internship program. The Museum also teaches about the Holocaust through its extensive collections, research institutes, and library programs.
The Museum’s educational materials encourage students to think critically about the complex causes of the Holocaust, including racism and prejudice. They explore the human capacity for good and evil, and remind students that we can all choose our actions.
The museum also provides educators with a wealth of resources, including lesson plans, film clips, and artifacts. Lesson Plans include topics such as Nazi Propaganda and Responsibility and Resistance. Other resources help students understand how to combat hatred and prevent genocide. These resources are standards-aligned, and many include classroom activities. Other resources, such as a poster set on art and the Holocaust, are available upon request.
It is accessible
The Museum’s mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about the Holocaust and its lessons for humanity while preserving the memory of those who suffered. It also inspires people to reflect on moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust, as well as their own responsibilities as citizens in a democracy.
The permanent exhibition is designed to teach visitors about the complex causes of the Holocaust through photographs, artifacts and film. It also explains how the Holocaust is remembered and why it has become an important part of the global story.
The museum’s library collects books, photographs, films, manuscripts and music scores on the history of the Holocaust. It also has extensive resources to support research on anti-Semitism, World War II, genocide studies and Jewish genealogy. It also offers a variety of teaching and learning tools, including lesson plans, standards-aligned materials and first-person testimonies from survivors. All exhibition spaces and many multimedia presentations are accessible to visitors with visual impairments, as are a number of research resources and reading rooms.
It is free
The museum’s mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about the Holocaust; preserve its memory; and encourage visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the event and their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy. It has welcomed 40 million visitors since its dedication in 1993. Its exhibitions explore the systematic persecution and annihilation of Jews, as well as other groups such as Poles, Roma, people with disabilities, and others by Nazi Germany. The main, permanent exhibition takes one to three hours to see. It also offers a gentler installation that is recommended for children aged eight and over.
The Museum’s core exhibition covers three floors and uses artifacts to provide a chronological story of the tragedy. Visitors can see objects that belonged to victims and hear their first-person testimonies. They can also explore other exhibits, which rotate regularly. The Chattanooga Public Library is one of 50 libraries in the country selected to host Americans and the Holocaust: A Traveling Exhibition for Libraries.