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