Overview of Holocaust Remembrance Exhibitions,
New York Headquarters
The Holocaust Programme helps to facilitate the organization of temporary exhibitions on Holocaust-related topics every year during the week of 27 January, which marks the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro opens the permanent exhibition on the Holocaust unveiled on the visitor's guided tour route in january 2008, produced by the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
In January 2008, the Programme unveiled the permanent exhibit on “Holocaust and the United Nations" at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The exhibit, developed with the assistance of Holocaust scholars, presents an overview of the Holocaust in the context of World War II and the founding of the United Nations, and is seen by the 400,000 visitors who visit United Nations Headquarters annually.
- 2016
"Holocaust by Bullets"
"Life after Survival"
- 2015
"Forbidden Art"
"Shoah - How Was It Humanly Possible?"
- 2014
“A Remembrance of the Holocaust in Hungary: 70th Anniversary Exhibition”
"When You Listen to a Witness, You Become a Witness"
- 2013
"The World Knew -- Jan Karski’s Mission for Humanity"
"Whoever Saves a Single Life … Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust"
- 2012:
“The Face of the Ghetto"
“A Monument of Good Deeds" and “The Holocaust - Keeping the Memory Alive”
"With Me Are Six Million Accusers: The Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem"
- 2011:
“The Memories Live On”
“Hélène Berr, A Stolen Life" - 2010:
“Generations"
“Architecture of Murder: The Auschwitz-Birkenau Blueprints” - 2009:
“Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race” - 2008:
“Besa: A Code of Honor, Muslim Albanians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust”
“Carl Lutz and the Legendary Glass House in Budapest” - 2007:
"The Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma and Present Day Racism in Europe"
“Art of the Surviors" - 2006:
“No Child’s Play -Remembrance and Beyond”
2016
"Holocaust by Bullets"
The exhibition "Holocaust by Bullets" presents the results of hundreds of days of fieldwork that enabled Yahad-In Unum to collect evidence of massacres during the Second World War in order to return memory and dignity to Jewish victims. It also underscores the "Holocaust by Bullets" as a precursor and model for mass crimes today. The exhibit is organized by the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations.
Father Patrick Desbois speaks ay the opening of the exhibition. UN Photo
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Ms. Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
H.E. Mr. François Delattre, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations
Father Patrick Desbois, President of Yahad-In Unum
"Life after Survival"
The exhibition shows how a little international group of UN volunteers - the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Team 182 - worked for the benefit of young Holocaust survivors in Kloster Indersdorf, where in 1945 they set up the first international children's center for unaccompanied children in the American zone of postwar Germany. They provided food, shelter, medical care and helped young people reconnect with their relatives or migrate to Israel.
Holocaust survivor Shmuel Reinstein speaks at the opening of the exhibition "Life after Survival".
The exhibition is organized by the Concentration Camp Memorial Site Flossenbürg in Germany. It is endorsed by the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in cooperation with the non-governmental organizations Heimatverein Indersdorf and Lagergemeinschaft Dachau.
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Ms. Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
Mr. Felix Klein, Special Representative for relations with Jewish Organizations in the Federal Government of Germany
Mr. Karl Freller, Member of the Bavarian State Parliament, former Vice-Minister and Director of the Bavarian Memorial Foundation
Mr. Shmuel Reinstein, a Holocaust survivor
Ms. Anna Andlauer, Curator of the exhibition
2015
"Forbidden Art"
The “Forbidden Art” exhibition presents the story of twenty works of arts made illegally and at great risk by prisoners of the German Nazi concentration camp. Each of the photographs shown in the exhibition is accompanied by an historical commentary and excerpts from archival accounts. The artwork is built around two themes. The first theme lays out the reality of life in the camp: scenes depicting the functioning of the camp and portraits of prisoners. The second theme focuses on the types of escape created by the camp prisoners: caricatures, albums containing greetings and fairy tales prisoners wrote for their children. Partners include The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, The Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations and The Polish Mission of the Orchard Lake Schools.
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Mr. Maher Nasser, United Nations Acting Head for Communications and Public Information
Mr. Bogusław Winid, Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations
Dr. Piotr Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
"Shoah - How Was It Humanly Possible?"
The exhibition, Yad Vashem’s first traveling exhibition recounting the comprehensive story of the Shoah, deals with major historical aspects of the Holocaust, beginning with Jewish life in pre-Holocaust Europe and ending with the 1945 liberation of Nazi concentration and death camps across the continent.
The exhibition opened at United Nations Headquarters on 26 January, marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau and the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Partners include Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority; the American Society for Yad Vashem; and the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaking at the event. UN Photo/Evan Schneider
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General
H.E. Mr. Reuven Rivlin, President of the State of Israel
H.E. Mr. Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
Mr. Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate (invited)
Dr. Miriam Adelson, Co-Founder of the Adelson Family Foundation (invited)
Mr. Leonard Wilf, Chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem
2014
“A Remembrance of the Holocaust in Hungary:
70th Anniversary Exhibition”
This exhibition presented a historical account of the Holocaust in Hungary in observance of the 70th anniversary of the deportation and extermination of the Hungarian Jews. Partners include: the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the United Nations, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice; the Hungarian American Coalition; the Hungary Initiatives Foundation and the Carl Lutz Foundation.
Csaba Kőrösi, Permanent Representative of Hungrary to the United Nations, delivers remarks at the opening.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Mr. Maximilian Teleki, President, Hungarian American Coalition
Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
H.E. Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations
Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice
Dr. Tamás Fellegi, President, The Hungary Initiatives Foundation
Prayer by Rabbi
"When You Listen to a Witness, You Become a Witness"
Produced by the March of the Living International, this exhibition documents the experiences of students while visiting the former Nazi concentration camps established in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Through photographs, personal stories and interactions with Holocaust survivors, viewers learn about the horrors of the Holocaust. Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, opened the exhibition.
Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information,
speaks at the opening of the exhibit at UN Headquarters.
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
H.E. Mr. Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, Chairman, March of the Living International
Mr. Shlomo Grofman, Vice-Chair, March of the Living International
Dr. Naomi Azrieli, Chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation
Mr. Max Glauben, Holocaust Survivor
Sara Diamond - What Will Become of All the MemoriesCantor Shmuel Barzilai – Closing Prayer - Ani Maamin (I Believe)
Press Release: Exhibition to Open at Headquarters on 28 January as Part of United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Activities.
2013
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The World Knew -- Jan Karski’s Mission for Humanity
This exhibit lays out the captivating background of Polish native Jan Kozielewski, who under the assumed name of Jan Karski served as a courier for the Polish Underground State and informed Allied leaders about Nazi Germany’s ongoing extermination of the Jews. Karski was a Roman Catholic who later attained U.S. citizenship and was named an honorary citizen of Israel and a Righteous Among the Nations. The exhibit has been produced by the Polish History Museum in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. -
Whoever Saves a Single Life … Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust
This exhibit showcases some of those rare but exceedingly important instances where people fought to safeguard their Jewish fellow citizens during the Holocaust. In a time of overwhelming death and destruction, rescuers did not stand by silently. They chose another way, and their bravery offers us a glimmer of hope. It shows us that people are able to make choices and act on them, even in the face of powerful constraints, offering us a lesson on the universal value of the preservation of human life, human dignity, and human rights. It shows us that people are able to make choices and act on them, even in the face of powerful constraints, offering us a lesson on the universal value of the preservation of human life, human dignity and human rights. The exhibit has been produced by The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. -
Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information,
speaks at the opening of the exhibit at UN Headquarters. UN Photo/Mark Garten - gttrtrter
Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
H.E. Ryszard Sarkowicz, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations
Ms. Ewa Wierzyńska, Leader of Jan Karski Legacy Program and Head of International Cooperation in the Polish History Museum
Mr. Harvey Schulweis, Chairman, The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous
Ms. Ursula Korn Selig, Holocaust Survivor
Press Release: Rescue during the Holocaust highlighted in two Exhibits held at UNHQ for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
2012
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With Me Are Six Million Accusers: The Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem
- The United Nations, in partnership with the State of Israel, marked the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, the mastermind behind the systematic mass deportation and murder of European Jews during the Holocaust. An exhibition titled “With Me Are 6 Million Accusers: The Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem”, opened with a formal ceremony at 6 p.m. on Thursday, 19 April in the Main Gallery of the Visitors Lobby.
Yossi Peled, Minister and Member of Israel’s Knesset, and Holocaust survivor, speaks at the opening of the exhibit at UN Headquarters. Pictured right is Maher Nasser, Acting Head of DPI.The exhibition was produced by the Museums Division of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem. It includes photographs, newspaper clippings, works of art and original film footage of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi officer who played a crucial role in the practical execution of a master plan to systematically concentrate and deport millions of European Jews to their deaths during the Holocaust. International media coverage of the 1961 court hearing in Jerusalem, which included testimony by Holocaust survivors, captured public attention around the globe and was considered a turning point in Holocaust history. The exhibit has been made available courtesy of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem.
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Israeli Minister Yossi Peled, Holocaust survivor and retired General
H.E. Mr. Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
Micky Goldman, Holocaust survivor and member of the Israeli Police Bureau 06
Professor Melvin J. Bukiet, Sarah Lawrence College, representative of the American Society for Yad Vashem
Tamar Hausner-Raveh, lawyer and daughter of Gideon Hausner, the trial’s Chief Prosecutor
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The Face of the Ghetto
More than 100 people turned out at the UN Headquarters in late January to view the openings of three exhibits meant to recognize the millions of people whom perished during the Holocaust. Part of the Organization’s annual week of activities that culminate with a memorial ceremony each 27 January, the three exhibits was displayed in the Visitors Lobby until 29 February 2012.
The extraordinary work of Jewish photographers in the Polish ghetto of Lodz can be seen by the public for the first time with “The Face of the Ghetto: Pictures by Jewish Photographers from the Lodz Ghetto, 1940-1944”. The exhibition was curated by the Topography of Terror Foundation in Berlin, in cooperation with the National Archives in Lodz.
Even experts in the field hardly knew about this collection of images, which lays out the persecution of the Jews in the Lizmannstadt Ghetto. While researching in the National Archives in Lodz, historian Dr. Ingo Loose and curator Dr. Thomas Lutz came across 27 photo albums. Inside were about 12,000 contact prints in small format, sorted thematically and taken by Jewish photographers at the request of the ghetto's Jewish Council. - Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Mr. Roman Kent, a survivor of the Lodz ghetto and President of the International Auschwitz Committee
Mr. Andreas Nachama, Executive Director of the Topography of Terror Foundation
Ingo Loose, Academic Advisory, Institute of Contemporary History Munich-Berlin
H.E. Peter Wittig, Permanent Representative of the German Mission to the United Nations
"Monument of Good Deeds and The Holocaust -
Keeping the Memory Alive"On Thursday, 26 January, two exhibits in keeping with this year’s theme of “Children and the Holocaust” opened in the UN Visitors Lobby. “Monument of Good Deeds: Dreams and Hopes of Children during the Holocaust”, brought to life the stories of 13 children who had experienced the Holocaust by displaying their portraits, artwork, and toys.
Kiyotaka Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, speaks at the opening of the exhibits, at UN Headquarters. UN Photo/JC McIlwaineCurated by Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, this exhibit helps viewers see how these children preserved despite the war in which they lived their daily lives.
The hopes and dreams of young people who suffered during this terrible period was also expressed through the second exhibition, “The Holocaust – Keeping the Memory Alive”. This exhibit showcased the top 16 entries of the Design Student Poster Contest 2012. The 16 top posters were created by design students from the Czech Republic, Israel and France. The contest drew submissions from more than 300 young artists. It was supported by the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research and held in partnership with Yad Vashem, le Mémorial de la Shoah, the European Shoah Legacy Institute and the United Nations Holocaust Programme.- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Mr. Eli Zborowski, Chairman and founder of the American Society for Yad Vashem and a Holocaust survivor
Ms. Kimberly Mann, Manager, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
Mr. Yehudit Inbar, Exhibit Curator and Director Museums Division, Yad Vashem
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2011
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"The Memories Live On"
The exhibition displays drawings of the Auschwitz Nazi Concentration Camp found in a sketchbook that belonged to an unknown prisoner in the camp. The drawings, found on the grounds of the memorial site in Birkenau in 1947 by a Polish Auschwitz survivor, depict the fate of the Jews from arrival at the camp to death in the gas chambers. -
Kiyotaka Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information,
speaks at the opening of the exhibits. UN Photo/Mark Garten -
This exhibition also places emphasis on the need to keep these memories alive by sharing them with younger generations, and presents written memories of survivors along with the thoughts and feelings expressed by young people upon learning the facts of this history. The exhibition was sponsored by the International Auschwitz Committee in Germany, the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, the International Youth Meeting Centre Oswiecim/Auschwitz in Poland, the Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand in Germany and the United States Mission to the United Nations.
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Hélène Berr, A Stolen Life
This exhibition, sponsored by Mémorial de la Shoah, documents the persecution of Jews in occupied France during World War II through the excerpts of a journal kept by Hélène Berr, a Jewish woman who died in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in 1945.
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
H.E. Mr. Peter Wittig, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations
Mr. Roman Kent, Auschwitz Survivor, New York
Ms. Ilona Hefft, Trainee, Volkswagen Coaching, Emden/Wolfsburg
Mr. Marian Turski, Auschwitz Survivor, Warsaw -
2010
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"Generations: Survival and the Legacy of Hope"
This exhibition explores the impact of the Holocaust on four families across three generations. The Oppenheimer, Wallfisch, Helfglott and Halter families discuss the effects of the Holocaust on their lives and on today’s world. Their legacy is deeply personal and painful, but has a compelling universal message for humanity that one can survive and thrive with the promise of future generations to follow, carrying the traditions and beliefs and wisdom. Through their stories, this exhibition stresses the importance of keeping the legacy of Holocaust survivors alive for the sake of future generations, particularly those who have experienced similar persecution. The exhibition is a joint project of the United Kingdom Holocaust Centre, the San Diego Jewish Cultural Centre, and Conscience Display, and was co-sponsored by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. - Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Eric Falt, Director, Outreach Division
Mr. Robert Katz, Chair, USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education
Dr. Stephen Smith, Executive Director, USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education
Mrs. Sara Greenberg, Third Generation- Grandchild of survivors
Ms. Marcy Greenberg, Second Generation – Child of survivors
Reli and Joseph Gringlas, Holocaust Survivors
- Press Release: ‘Generations’ Video Exhibition Opens at United Nations Headquarters on 25 January as Part of Holocaust Remembrance Activities
"Architecture of Murder: The Auschwitz-Birkenau Blueprints"
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The exhibition, sponsored by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, displays the blueprints prepared by the Nazis for the construction of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, and demonstrates that Auschwitz-Birkenau was part of the Nazis’ “Final Solution”, the plan to annihilate Europe’s Jews. The Nazis produced hundreds of technical sketches of various building sites, including detailed sketches of the gas chambers and crematoriums. More than a million people were murdered during the camp’s operation period from June 1940 to January 1945, most of whom were Jews.
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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the opening of the exhibition
"Architecture of Murder: The Auschwitz-Birkenau Blueprints". UN Photo/Evan SchneiderSpeakers at the exhibit opening:
Remarks at the Exhibition Opening by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General
Mr. Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Minister for Information and Diaspora of Israel
Mr. Rick Barton, United States Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
H.E. Ms. Gabriela Shalev, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
Mr. Eli Zborowski, Founder and Chairman, American & International Societies for Yad Vashem
Ms. Yehudit Inbar, Curator of exhibit and Director Museums Division, Yad Vashem, Israel
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"Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race"
Displaying objects, photographs, documents, and historic film footage, this exhibition describes the Nazi regime’s campaign to "cleanse" German society of individuals viewed as biological threats to the nation's "health”, aiming to change the genetic makeup of the population through measures known as “racial hygiene” or “eugenics”. Jews, Roma, the disabled and other minorities were among the groups considered as “biological threats”, and were subjected to forced sterilization and murder, which culminated in the Holocaust. The exhibition was sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial.
- Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Susan Bachrach, Exhibit Curator, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Press Release: United Nations to Observe Holocaust Remembrance Day 27 January, Events Include Memorial Ceremony, Exhibits, Film Screening -
2008
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"Besa: A Code of Honor, Muslim Albanians
who rescued Jews during the Holocaust" - his is a photo exhibition featuring the accounts of Muslim Albanians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Their courageous assistance to the Jews was grounded in Besa, a code of honour, which still serves as the highest ethical code in the country. The exhibition was sponsored by Yad Vashem and the Permanent Mission of Albania to the UN.
Norman Gershman, photographer of the Besa exhibit,
speaks at the opening of an exhibit. UN Photo/Mark GartenUN News Center: New UN exhibit pays tribute to those who rescued Jews during Holocaust (29 January 2008)
View Online Exhibition -
Carl Lutz and the Legendary Glass House in Budapest
This exhibition recounts the courageous actions of the Swiss diplomat, Carl Lutz, who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from deportation to the Nazi death camps by placing them under Swiss protection and issuing them certificates for emigration. The exhibition was sponsored by the Carl Lutz Foundation in Budapest and the Permanent Missions of Hungary and Switzerland to the UN.
A wide-view of the Holocaust Remembrance exhibition on display in the lobby
of the United Nations New York Headquarters. UN Photo/Mark Garten - Speakers at the exhibits’ opening:
Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
H.E. Mr. Adrian Neritani, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Albania to the United Nations
Ms. Yehudit Shendar, Deputy Director and Senior Art Curator of the Museums Division, Yad Vashem
Mr. Norman Gershman, Photographer
Mr. Peter Vamos, speaking on behalf of the Carl Lutz Foundation
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Holocaust survivor
Online Exhibition -
2007
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"The Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma
and Present Day Racism in Europe"The exhibition documents the plight of the Roma and Sinti minorities in Central and Eastern Europe during the Holocaust. It features personal testimonies and family photographs. The exhibition was sponsored by the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma in Berlin, and the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations.
Thomas Matussek, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations,
speaks at the opening of the exhibit. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras.Press Release: Exhibit Marking Annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Holocaust Victims Opens at Headquarters on Saturday; Documents Plight of Roma, Sinti (25 January 2007)
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"Art of the Surviors"
- This exhibition features paintings and sculptures by four Holocaust survivors – Jospeh Bau, David Friedman, Henny de Brito and Hanka Kornfeld-Marder - who shared their experiences during the Holocaust through their art work.
Speakers at the exhibits’ opening:
Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
Mr. Romani Rose, Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma
Mr. Thomas Matussek, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations
Rabbi Israel Singer, Chairman of the World Jewish CongressMr. Johan Weisz, Holocaust survivor (Netherlands)
Mrs. Clila Bau, Daughter of Holocaust survivor, Joseph Bau
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2006
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"No Child’s Play - Remembrance and Beyond"
This special photo exhibition, sponsored by Yad Vashem – the Holocaust the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Authority (Jerusalem), opens a window into the personal stories and lives of children in the Holocaust by presenting toys, games, artwork, diaries and poems written by children. Approximately one and half million Jewish children were murdered in the Holocaust.
Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information,
delivers welcoming remarks at the opening of the exhibit. UN Photo/Joao Castellano.Speakers at the exhibit opening:
Professor Melvin Bukiet, Sarah Lawrence College, son of Holocaust survivor
H.E. Mr. Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
Ms. Yehudit Inbar, Curator, Yad Vashem