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.