Holocaust Museum and Learning Center

THIS MUSEUM WAS REBUILT AND RENAMED.  SEE NOV 2022.

12 Millstone Campus
St. Louis. MO 63146

Admission and parking are free.

Website: http://hmlc.org/

 

This excellent and very moving museum celebrated its twentieth anniversary in August 2015. It is in the Kopolow Building, home of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.  The museum sits off of the main lobby.

We are so glad that we chose to do a free audio tour as opposed to just walking through the displays. It is extremely well written and is narrated by local television newsman Mike Bush with testimonies by Holocaust survivors. You can use the audio device by holding it up to your ear or you can also use headphones attached to it. There are 44 dialogues averaging 90 seconds.  Throughout the museum you see numbers on a silhouette that correspond with the dialogues; for example, below is #19.  Just follow the numbers. 

Throughout the museum you also see audio subject-specific snippets spoken by the “guides”, local Holocaust survivors.  There are usually 3 or 4 grouped together on a red pentagon and you may listen to them at your leisure.

There are also interspersed a few places where you can sit and watch a short video.

The museum covers a very difficult subject without overwhelming you with disturbing pictures. There are very few pictures displayed of naked or dead bodies.  There are some hidden behind viewing slits and just a couple on display.

The displays are set up chronologically and take you through adjoining rooms. Unfortunately the lighting in the museum rooms makes it very difficult to get clear pictures from much of a distance.

The first room, The Introductory Room, contains displays of photographs taken of Jewish life in Europe prior to the Holocaust, each with a description that includes who if anyone, in the picture survived.  These photographs were all donated by residents of St. Louis who survived or whose family perished.

The second section is Jewish Life Before Holocaust.  The picture below is part of a large display titled 1000 Years of Jewish History in Europe. 

Possessions from the lives of European Jews are on display.

The display below from the third section The Rise of Nazism in Germany is an example of some of the larger displays.

The display includes artifacts as seen below.

The fourth section is Early World War II and the Beginning of the Holocaust.  Below is an identity card issued to Felix Levy in 1939 and also the cloth stars.

Below is a miniature of the Lodz Ghetto in Poland, second largest ghetto in German-occupied Europe. 

This section includes an entire wall with the chronological history of Auschwitz and also a display of artifacts.

One can spend a lot of time studying this map, one of the displays in The Holocaust and Final Solution, the fifth section. 

The sixth section is Liberation and Rescue.

Jewish Life After Holocaust is the last section.

These artifacts below all tell part of the story of the journey to St. Louis by Holocaust survivors.

There is a final room called Change Begins with Me that is a learning center on how bias, discrimination and genocide still exist today.

 The museum includes displays on the Unites States and our history with the Holocaust.

The notice below shows us that the museum is making changes as new research is completed. 

This map at the end of the tour is very sobering, as is, of course, the entire tour.

This beautiful quilt was in the museum bookstore.

 

This beautiful artwork is at the entrance of the museum.

We found a great local deli at which to eat lunch after our museum visit.

Pumpernickles Deli: http://www.pumpernickles.com/  

This may be the best Reuben and Potato Salad I have ever eaten. Outstanding!

Comments: This was a sobering but great museum.  It is very well laid out and easy to follow.  I have read and watched a great deal about the Holocaust but still there was much here that was new to me.

The audio recording was excellent and I highly recommend using it. If you have a large group and want a survivor to be present one needs to contact the museum months in advance to make arrangements but honestly, the museum did a fantastic job at including the survivors’ testimonies in the displays and audio.   It is worth taking the time to push all the guide buttons and hear what they have to say.  Don’t miss the three testimonies about the forced marches.  In fact, don’t miss any of them. 

We retired teachers did the entire audio tour, watched the three videos, and listened to some of the guide testimonies and it took us exactly two hours to complete. We did not read everything.

I have been to this museum twice and both times it was empty which made it great for viewing.  However, I called ahead to confirm that no field trips or tour groups were scheduled when I planned to go and I highly recommend you do that. 

The museum relies on donations and consequently there is a donation box at the end of the tour.  

They have an excellent website with information about hours, holidays, and special events.   

 

Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

7400 Grant Road   
St. Louis, MO 63123
Admission and parking are free.

Website: http://www.nps.gov/ulsg/index.htm

This national site not only has a museum but the site also includes an historic home with additional historic buildings, and a visitor’s center with a bookstore and a theater.

Every hour leaving from the visitor’s center there is a free guided tour that includes a short walk to the historic house, White Haven. It is recommended that one views the 22-minute film in the Visitor Center theater before doing the tour. This film about Grant is excellent. We viewed it after the tour and it was still very beneficial.

The house, originally white but painted Green in Grant’s time, was purchased by Frederick Dent in 1820. It was here that Ulysses Grant courted his wife, Julia Dent, in 1848.  After marrying, they lived here for several years in the 1850’s.  Julia gave birth to three of their four children in White Haven, and here Ulysses farmed alongside his father-in-law and the Dent slaves.  The Grants purchased the home and farm in the 1860’s, occasionally visiting it. Julia sold it after Ulysses died.

The volunteer guide gave a very informative 20-30 minute talk about the history of the Grants and White Haven. We then toured the house on our own but were able afterwards to meet the guide out back to have additional questions answered.  The guide was excellent and very knowledgeable.

The National Park Service has chosen to decorate the house with minimal furniture.  (During their lifetime, the Grants’ furniture was destroyed in a lightning-caused fire.)

There are a number of explanatory signs throughout the house and outbuildings.

The slaves’ winter kitchen is in the cellar of White Haven. 

The stone building that housed the summer kitchen, the laundry, and living quarters for a few of the slaves, is right behind the house. 

The two other buildings behind the house are the chicken house and the ice house.

Following touring the four historic buildings we walked back to the barn attached to the Visitor Center. Upon entering we went through a room that housed this buggy and wagon.

From there we entered the museum which consists of six rooms off of the main room. We were told that the average person spends 20-30 minutes in the museum, but if a visitor were to read everything in the displays it would take two or more hours to tour it.

Several rooms have large informative displays.

 There are a few artifacts on display.

There are also a few interactive activities. Most seem to include a lot of reading.

 There is a display of period clothing one can don for a photo op.

We left the museum and re-entered the Visitor’s Center where there is a small but nice bookstore run by the National Park Service. It has many books, items for children, and an array of souvenirs.

The canon display shown here is one of a few outdoor displays.  The paved path on the other side of the white site fence is Grant’s Trail, a bike path that allows visitors to ride their bikes to this site!

Across the street from the national site is Grant’s Farm, originally part of the White Haven farm, but for many years now owned by the Busch family and open to the public.  A popular destination for families, it includes an animal reserve as well as a cabin that Grant himself built.  And of course, beer!

Less than two miles away we had lunch at a local restaurant.  The food was good and the place very busy with local workers and residents eating their lunches.

Malone’s Neighborhood Grill and Pub: http://malonesgrillandpub.com/index.php?2

Comments: This national site, only about ten years old, appears to be a well-kept secret in St. Louis.  Although St. Louis area residents are very familiar with Grants Farm many do not realize that White Haven is a separate site.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit here and I highly recommend the site for adults and older children.

We went on a beautiful September Friday afternoon and found the place not crowded. (I did call ahead to confirm that there were none of their occasional school field trips scheduled for that day.) We enjoyed spending time outside the historical buildings in the nice weather.

Unless you are in a group of 15 or more and want to do the guided tour, no reservations are needed.  The tours are scheduled to start on the hour but the film is started whenever someone requests it.

The website has information about hours and holidays as well as special events.