18 | JANUARY 18 • 2024

leave out,
” she said. “It’s a huge
responsibility.
”
“We want to give people
something to think about,
”
Bergman said of the chosen
material in each gallery. In a
section discussing Germany’s
Nuremberg Laws, for example,
“we see on one wall, law after
law enacted year after year to
constrict Jews’ lives and isolate
them,
” she said. “On the right
side are quotes from survivors
who remembered what it was
like living under those laws.
”
Allowing survivors to tell how
they were affected helps convey
the impact of the laws on real
people living at that time.
Many museums talk about
the six Nazi death camps.
“That’s important, but again,
we wanted to focus on what
that experience was like for
those who went through the
camps,
” Bergman said. Panels
list different aspects of life in

the camps, from the perspective
of the victims. “We are making
sure visitors hear the voices
of the survivors and the
experience of the victims, not
only the perpetrators.
”
The exhibit’s introductory
film features several local
survivors. “We want the first
and last word to be those of
survivors,
” Bergman said. “The
questions we’re really asking
is: Why should people learn
about the Holocaust and want
to come to our museum? We
believe they can learn about
tolerance, compassion and our
survivors’ passion for life from
them and feel their hope for the
future. That’s very powerful.
These were people who could
have lost their faith in humanity
but did not.
”
The testimonies of five
survivors featured in the gallery,
“Michigan Survivors Reflect,
”
provide examples of resilience

and also of how they rebuilt
their lives after the war. Mulder
said the flexible design of this,
and other exhibits, will allow
the stories to be changed out
to keep them fresh and feature
other survivors.

Toward the end of the tour
is the section, “Responsibility,
”
featuring a video clip of
the late Dr. Guy Stern. The

beloved original director of the
museum’s Harry and Wanda
Zekelman Institute of the
Righteous defines genocide
and discusses recent instances
worldwide. Then he asks a
definitive question: “What
can people do?” Viewers are
challenged to consider ways
in which they might feel more
empowered now to prevent

continued on page 20

Expanding Role for
Portraits of Honor
Of growing importance in the museum’s refocus is
“Portraits of Honor: Our Michigan Holocaust Survivors.”
The interactive Holocaust education project is a
presentation of the Program for Holocaust Survivors
and Families of Jewish Senior Life, CHAIM (Children of
Holocaust-survivors Association in Michigan) as well as
The Zekelman Holocaust Center.
Plans are being formulated for expanded on-site access
to portraitsofhonor.org, which features a searchable
database of Michigan-based survivors and Holocaust-era
experiences. Meanwhile, the project’s signature collection
of black-and-white framed portraits of Holocaust survivors,
750 in all, continue to line the walls of three museum
classrooms. Additional participants are welcome.

ZEKELMAN HOLOCAUST CENTER

A docent talks with
Midland High School
students about the
harsh realities of life in
concentration camps.

continued from page 17

OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY