Take a stand for humanity.
We must never forget. TELLING OUR STORIES TO KEEP MEMORIES AND LESSONS ALIVE
“I MADE A PROMISE TO THE WOMEN IN AUSCHWITZ THAT IF I SURVIVED, I WOULD TELL THE WORLD MY STORY.” F R I T Z I E F R I T Z S H A L L , Holocaust Survivor, Museum President
The world has changed dramatically since the Holocaust. Tragically, the human capacity for inhumanity has not.
A CRITICAL MOMENT IN TIME Because Illinois Holocaust Museum has the largest Survivor
The evidence is stark: Genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.
Speakers’ Bureau in the world, our visitors have the rare
The immigration crisis in Europe. Increasing antisemitism
privilege to hear a Survivor’s story first hand, ask questions,
globally. The rise of bullying in schools and online. All stand
and engage in conversation. These interactions humanize and
as proof that intolerance and hatred still threaten the
personalize history, leaving an indelible impression unrivaled
security, well-being, and far too often the lives of our fellow
by any textbook. Our challenge now, as our Survivor population
human beings.
ages, is to ensure that future generations also can benefit
S TA N D I N G U P T O H AT R E D AND KEEPING THE LESSONS ALIVE
and grow from these soulful, reflective, and transformative Survivor experiences.
Since 1981, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center has
Commit to the future today.
focused on one clear mission: To use the history and lessons of
Your gift to the Commit to the Future Campaign will have
the Holocaust to transform the future—to equip all visitors with
an immediate and lasting impact on the Museum’s ability
the knowledge, skills, and courage to take a stand for humanity.
to fulfill our mission. It will enable us to use groundbreaking
We do this by preserving and telling first-person Survivor
interactive video technology to capture living Survivor stories
stories that are moving and shocking, and ultimately uplifting
now and retell them to untold future generations in strikingly
and empowering. We do it through world-class exhibitions,
lifelike ways.* It will help us to innovate and ensure that all
education, and public programming that focus attention
children and adults have access to our vital resources. Your
on issues of genocide, intolerance, and inhumanity—historic
support also will strengthen the Museum’s financial position,
and present day, domestic and global.
allowing us to increase our impact by investing funds in
Each year, we empower and enable more than 150,000 students, teachers, and visitors to become Upstanders for social justice, to speak out against intolerance and genocide, and to lead by example.
state-of-the-art exhibits and educational programs within the Museum and in our communities. * See the foldout in the center of this booklet for more details about our new interactive Take a Stand Center.
T E L L I N G H E R S T O R Y Janine Oberrotman, Holocaust Survivor
and active member of the Museum Speakers’ Bureau, regularly shares her story with Museum visitors and other audiences.
The world needs to know. E D U C AT I N G A N D I N S P I R I N G U P S TA N D E R S F O R TO DAY A N D TO M O R R O W
“THE INDESCRIBABLE EMOTIONS THAT WENT THROUGH MY BODY WHILE I WAS AT THE MUSEUM CHANGED THE WAY I LOOK AT EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD.” D A N N Y , eighth-grade student, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Waukegan, Illinois
Almost four decades ago, in response to a threatened neo-Nazi
ENABLING AND EXTENDING
march in Skokie, Illinois, Holocaust Survivors in the community
THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE
took a bold and highly public stand against hatred. Their courageous activism captured the attention of the world, coalesced support, and ultimately inspired Museum founders to lead the charge to make Illinois the first state in the country to mandate instruction of the Holocaust, and subsequently genocide, in school classrooms—a model now adopted by 12 other states.
School field trips offer students a hands-on learning experience for understanding the power that even a single voice can wield and the importance of being an Upstander. Opportunity Scholarships provided by the Museum ensure that all schools, regardless of resources, can provide this experience for their students.
T R A N S F O R M I N G K N O W L E D G E I N T O I N S I G H T,
We also extend the Museum experience into classrooms across
I N S P I R AT I O N , A N D AC T I O N
the Midwest through professional development opportunities
Because we believe that education is humanity’s most effective
for educators; visits from our Speakers’ Bureau members;
tool for teaching the dangers of prejudice, hatred, and indiffer-
distribution of thematic teaching trunks that provide Holocaust
ence, the Museum takes a broad, multidimensional approach
and genocide educational tools for elementary, middle school,
to teaching, one that also helps schools meet the state mandate.
and high school classes; and Student Leadership Days that
First, we open students’ eyes to the realities of the Holocaust
challenge young people to think about citizenship and
in ways appropriate for their ages and sensibilities. Then,
strategies for creating social change.
we connect those lessons to contemporary, real-world issues
Commit to the future today.
of intolerance and the abuses and atrocities it engenders. We actively encourage students to recognize human rights abuses they see in their own lives or the lives of others, and then we give them the tools and skills they need to make a choice to take action. In their homes, in the classroom and on the playground, in their neighborhoods and communities, and in the world at large, we inspire them to become Upstanders who will use their voices and actions for good.
By supporting the Commit to the Future Campaign, you will directly impact our capacity to equip and empower teachers, students, and families to take a stand for humanity. Your generosity will enable us to expand existing educational programs, launch new ones, and extend our outreach initiatives. It will also help fund more Opportunity Scholarships, allowing us to open our doors to even more students and educators, regardless of their ability to pay.
M A K I N G A D I F F E R E N C E Julian Buddeberg, a recent high
school graduate from M端nster, Germany, leads by example. As an international Museum intern, he teaches others the value of being an Upstander and carries our message across the globe.
We all can take a stand. E M P O W E R I N G A N D E N A B L I N G I N D I V I D U A L S A N D O R GA N I Z AT I O N S TO S TA N D U P F O R H U M A N I T Y
“THE MUSEUM REMINDS US THAT WE NEED TO STAY TRUE TO WHO WE ARE. ONCE WE COMPROMISE WHAT WE BELIEVE IN, NOT ONLY DO WE HARM OURSELVES, SOCIETY SUFFERS.” J O H N , Sergeant, Chicago Police Department
Visitors of all ages leave the Museum having walked through
• 97% of Student Leadership Day participants find the experience
darkness into the light—physically, intellectually, and
quite impactful in empowering them to use their voices to take
emotionally. You can see the transformative effect of the
a stand against injustice and prejudice
Museum experience expressed in their faces and hear it in their voices. This happens by design. Every detail of our stunning physical space, every exhibit and gallery installation, every program and event links visitors to our profoundly inspiring core message: Everyone can and must take a stand for humanity.
C H A N G I N G AT T I T U D E S A N D I N S P I R I N G AC T I O N Since Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center opened in 2009, approximately one million people of all ages, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds have experienced our galleries and programs, learning the lessons of the Holocaust and how to apply them in their own lives, schools, and communities.
• 88% of visitors say they are much more likely to be inclusive of others after visiting
• 80% of visitors say they are much more likely to speak out against prejudice after visiting
EXTENDING THE MUSEUM’S REACH The Museum works to extend its reach through civic engagement that includes partnerships with law enforcement units, cultural institutions, faith-based organizations, and community centers. Our Law Enforcement and Democracy Initiative, for example, provides all Chicago Police Department recruits and other law enforcement officials with training and tools for understanding abuses of authority, responding
For most, it is the only opportunity they will ever have
to hate crimes and bias, and balancing the rights of individuals
to experience a Holocaust museum. The impact is real
with societal protection. Back on the streets, they recognize
and powerful.
the power they wield to protect human and civil rights.
• 100% of teachers feel that students learn how to better treat others with different backgrounds than their own through classroom lessons using Museum curricula and teaching techniques gained from professional development workshops
Commit to taking a stand. Your support of the Museum’s Commit to the Future Campaign will help fund new initiatives focused directly on enabling and empowering visitors to stand up for humanity, including the creation of the interactive Take A Stand Center described in the center foldout of this booklet.
T A K I N G A S T A N D Eighth-grader and Upstander Alvina Mercen
won first place, junior division, in the Museum’s 2015 Arts & Writing Contest. The theme, “New Lives, New World,” inspired her submission: Survivors in the Aftermath of the Holocaust.
The Take a Stand Center. BRINGING HOLOCAUST LESSONS TO LIFE TO INSPIRE FUTURE G E N E R AT I O N S O F U P S TA N D E R S
Since today’s young people are likely the last generation to hear Holocaust Survivor stories firsthand, capturing and preserving these stories now is an educational and moral imperative.
U P S TA N D E R GA L L E R Y This teaching gallery (above), with its blend of storytelling and technology, takes visitors on an interactive exploration of histor-
The Museum’s new Take A Stand Center, a breakthrough
ical and contemporary Upstanders. “Story Portals” allow visitors
initiative, combines a state-of-the-art Survivor Stories Theater
to immerse themselves in the lives of people who have fought
with an interactive Upstander Gallery and an action-oriented
against injustice and stood up for worthy causes. By hearing
Take A Stand Lab to create an immersive, engaging, and
and interacting with the stories, visitors can picture themselves
empowering experience.
facing the struggles of these contemporary heroes and come
SURVIVOR STORIES EXPERIENCE Imagine a “conversation” with a Holocaust Survivor who is
away inspired to enact positive change in their own lives.
TA K E A S TA N D L A B
no longer alive. The Museum’s new, interactive Survivor Stories
The action-oriented Take a Stand Lab encourages visitors
Theater (right page) addresses the challenge of sharing first-
to think about the importance of fundamental rights, inspires
hand Survivor narratives and lessons with future generations.
them to civic engagement, and puts the power of change
This groundbreaking, state-of-the-art technology, developed
in their hands. By providing information about present-day
through USC Shoah Foundation’s New Dimensions in Testimony
local, national, and international issues along with ideas, tools,
project, combines high-definition holographic recording and
and opportunities to take immediate action, the Take a Stand
voice recognition technology to enable recorded Survivors
Lab enables visitors to get involved and make their voices
to tell their stories, respond to spontaneous questions, and
heard. For example, they can write letters to public officials or
engage meaningfully and movingly with a live audience.
publication editors, speak up for someone who is discriminated against, or volunteer on behalf of a cause, even before they leave the Museum.
LEGACY OF AB SENCE GALLERY The Museum’s Legacy of Absence Art Gallery (bottom right) bookends the Take a Stand Center’s visitor experience with an area of artistic response to global genocides.
“ENSURING THAT SURVIVORS CAN TELL THEIR STORIES TO NEW GENERATIONS IS A TOP PRIORITY FOR OUR MUSEUM AND OUR FUTURE.”
S U S A N A B R A M S , Chief Executive Officer
Survivor Stories Theater
Survivor Stories Theater
Survivor Stories Theater
Legacy of Absence Art Gallery
ENGAGING AND E M P O W E R I N G U P S TA N D E R S Core exhibitions document the full arc of the Holocaust story and address contemporary issues of intolerance and genocide. The Museum’s stunning design by worldrenowned architect Stanley Tigerman embodies our foundational messaging through stark structural elements, dramatic lighting, and symbolism. Contemplative and commemorative spaces quietly pay tribute to those who fought, resisted, lost their lives, or saved the lives of others. Changing exhibitions explore a wide range of subjects that offer new perspectives on issues such as racial prejudice, cultural influence, and women’s rights. Special programming—films, concerts, book discussions, lectures, and more—brings artists, activists, educators, and the public together, stimulating new dialogue and action.
Commit to the future. CA M PA I G N FO R I L L I N O I S H O LO CAU ST M U S E U M & E D U C AT I O N C E N T E R
“THE HISTORY AND STORIES OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS SHOULD INSPIRE US ALL— INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS ALIKE—TO COMMIT TO ENSURING THAT THE LESSONS LEARNED ARE PASSED ON TO GENERATIONS TO COME.” S T E V E N L . F R A D K I N , President, Wealth Management, Northern Trust
The mission and message of Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center have never been more relevant. We need your help to expand our reach and impact. The work we do today will shape generations to come: the future Upstanders who must never forget the lessons of the Holocaust, take what they learn to heart, and have the will to transform our future.
SECURE OUR FUTURE Donors to Illinois Holocaust Museum’s $30 million Commit to the Future Campaign will help secure the programmatic and
Commit today. Every gift to the Commit to the Future Campaign has an immediate and lasting impact on the Museum’s ability to keep alive the stories of Survivors, provide powerful visitor experiences, and inspire future generations of Upstanders. Regardless of the size of your contribution, your support will empower tomorrow’s leaders to combat bigotry, speak out against hatred, and make their communities and the world at large better places to live.
financial future of our world-class institution, ensuring that we
For more information about the Campaign and naming
can continue to preserve the stories and safeguard the history
opportunities and to make your commitment, please contact:
of our Survivor community. It will allow us to use advanced
Susan Abrams
technologies to create the interactive Take A Stand Center,
Chief Executive Officer
which will personalize and humanize the lessons of the
susan.abrams@ilhmec.org
Holocaust forever. Your support will help expand and enrich
847.967.4880
our exhibitions, education, and programming, and ensure access for all to our vital resources.
Ken Cooper Vice President, Development ken.cooper@ilhmec.org 847.967.4502 Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL 60077 www.ilholocaustmuseum.org
P A S S I N G T H E T O R C H Aaron Elster, Holocaust Survivor and
Museum Vice President; Doris Lazarus, Museum docent and daughter of a Survivor; and Atticus Miller, fourth-grade student, are committed to keeping the stories alive.
Back Cover: Julian Humphries / Courtesy of Getty Images
Museum Images: James Schnepf, David Seide, and Robin Subar
Portrait Photography: Chris Strong