St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum

36 Millstone Campus Drive
St. Louis 63146
314-442-3711

Admission is $12 for general admission; seniors and students are $10.00.  There is a large parking lot with free parking. 

https://stlholocaustmuseum.org/

Reopening of new museum was on November 2, 2022

Seven years and two weeks ago we visited the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center in St. Louis.  Since then the museum was closed and this new one was built on the same property.  It is almost four times the size of the original museum. Both museums were heavily built on the stories of local survivors.  

Upon entering you are greeted by this wall containing a definition of what you are about to see. 

Below is basically how much of the museum is organized. 

Throughout the museum there are many displays similar to this one. 

Just like the previous museum, school children are invited and encouraged to attend. Consequently they have again designed the museum to basically hide the pictures of the worse of the war. They are hidden in drawers that must be pulled open to view.  

As in the previous museum upon entering you are greeted by this beautiful large piece of art. 

There is also a timeline to remind the visitor of the long,  long history of demonizing and persecuting Jews. 

Below are examples of the many large posters that educate the museum visitors. 

Like any historical museum there are also a number of artifacts. Here is a Torah fragment from Poland, a pre-war Poland shofar, and a set of Kiddush cups. 

A Sabbath Lamp from an Italian Jewish home. 

A second-grade reader

A Hitler Youth Knife and Service Card; a pin from the National Socialists Women's Union; and crosses awarded to "Aryan" German women for having four or more "Aryan" babies.  

Star of David badges; Camp Correspondence; Warsaw Ghetto Plant Tag; and a Jewish Police Handstamp (Warsaw)

Concentration Camp Jacket and Pants

Child's shoe

War Camp Prisoner's Clogs

Identification tag for camps. 

A camp bracelet found in recent years and returned to family in St. Louis in 2018. The number was stenciled on his arm. 

War Department Identification Badge

Captured Nazi Banner, March 1945, and signed by U.S. soldiers

Chief of Counsel Cigarette Case from the Nuremberg Trials

Accordion purchased by former prisoner while in displaced persons camp after war. 

As to be expected this museum has update technology.  There are many of these listening stations throughout the museum where you can hear the actual recordings of those who experienced the Holocaust. 

Many of the listening stations have comfortable stools to sit on while listening. 

Upon entering the museum there is a short film on a large screen in a small auditorium. 

There is a second film when you leave. 

A number of the displays have audio added to them.  At this one you can hear this woman talk about her experience when she parted ways with her parents to go to England as part of the Kindertransport. She never saw her parents again. 

This display allows you to pick four different Escape Attempts to learn about them with audio and pictures. 

Again one can chose from four different presentations that accompany this overview map.

Learning about concentration camps with this map display. 

A number of the local survivors' stories are told on screen. 

There are a number of unusual displays.  This one included many examples of propaganda. 

This is a model of a ghetto. 

There were some very moving photographs. This one called "The Living Dead at Buchenwald" was taken in 1945 in Germany by a Life magazine photographer.

This photo of a death march was in the previous museum covering an entire wall.  One of the men towards the back of the line settled in St. Louis and had an amazing story of survival which a docent shared with us. 

This is one of the very few photos on display that is this graphic. 

The walls of the last room are covered with photos of local survivors. There are benches to sit and watch the film of one of eight survivors recorded. 

When you leave you have the opportunity to add a thought to the wall as evidenced by the white pieces of rolled paper protruding from the wall. 

The gift store only sells books. 

The Lower Level was not open to us but one can make an appointment to visit the archives and research center. 

After the museum we went to an Italian deli in Creve Coeur. 

They offered salads but...

they are really known for their sandwiches! 

Comments:  Needless to say this is a very moving museum.  It is also one that has a lot of reading!  After almost two hours there we left for lunch, all agreeing that we could go back and read even more that we had missed. I do believe that there is more reading and fewer artifacts than their original museum.  

We visited one week after it opened.  They have had a great response from the community with over 500 visitors the first week. We went online and bought tickets for a specific time before we went.  There seemed to be other visitors there that did not buy tickets in advance. 

The docents were excellent.  We had two very experienced docents that shared some great information with us. 

The museum has used new technology well.

I loved that this museum had much more light than the previous one which was very dark.  

The deli had great sandwiches!