Anchoring the southernmost tip of Manhattan, the Museum of Jewish Heritage completes the cultural and educational landscape it shares with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Across the water, Lady Liberty lifts her lamp and Ellis Island marks the gateway through which millions flowed into this country seeking refuge. The Museum’s meaningful location inspires its mission.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage is a public, American institution with strong Jewish roots. The Core building’s six-sided shape and six-tiered, louvered roof rising 85 feet in the air are reminders of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. They are also reminiscent of the six-pointed Star of David, symbolizing the Museum’s commitment to representing Jewish life and culture as it has endured and evolved.
To the north of the Museum, the buildings of the new World Trade Center gleam—reminders, etched into the New York City skyline, of a collective responsibility to remember and renew.
Twenty Five Years of Remembrance & Education
2022
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, the Museum opened The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do, its new core exhibition featuring over 750 artifacts and 30 films made from its testimonies and collection.
2021
The Museum reopened to the public with Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try, its first showing of contemporary art.
2020
The Museum closed its doors for COVID safety and went beyond its walls virtually with educational and public programs for schoolchildren and adults, meeting hundreds of thousands of people from around the world in their homes.
2019
Jack Kliger is appointed President & CEO. The Museum opens Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not Far away. The exhibition was the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America, and an unparalleled opportunity to confront the singular face of human evil—one that arose not long ago and not far away.
2017
For International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Museum presents its largest public program ever—a community reading of Night by Elie Wiesel. People from around the world watched the livestream, making it a truly international remembrance.
2016
Michael S. Glickman is appointed President & CEO. The Museum launches the Real Estate and Allied Trades Division with an inaugural luncheon honoring Larry Silverstein and his family. The new Prins Fellowship for emigrating scholars, artists, museum professionals, and researchers is also announced.
2014
Bruce C. Ratner becomes Chairman of the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Robert M. Morgenthau becomes Chairman Emeritus.
2012
Hurricane Sandy hits and the Museum is closed for a week to recover. Though the Museum is located on the edge of New York Harbor, the building, collections, and exhibitions come through the storm unscathed.
2009
Overlooking New York Harbor, the Pickman Keeping History Center and Voices of Liberty—an interactive, digital visitor experience—open to the public.
2005
The Museum’s original exhibition Daring to Resist: Jewish Defiance in the Holocaust is honored by the American Association of Museums in their Excellence in Exhibition Competition.
2004
The Museum’s original exhibition Ours to Fight For: American Jews in the Second World War is named the Grand Prize Winner in the Excellence in Exhibition Competition by the American Association of Museums.
2003
The Robert M. Morgenthau Wing opens. It is an 82,000-square-foot addition and includes Garden of Stones by internationally acclaimed artist Andy Goldsworthy.
2001
In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Museum family mourns along the rest of New York City and the Museum closes its doors for three weeks. Construction of the East Wing resumes on November 27 and is the first construction to begin south of Ground Zero after 9/11.
2000
Ceremonial groundbreaking of the East Wing (later named the Robert M. Morgenthau Wing), a major Museum expansion. Dr. David G. Marwell is appointed Director of the Museum.
1997
On September 11, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is dedicated by dignitaries and Holocaust survivors including Elie Wiesel. The Museum opens to the public on September 15. The cost of the building construction and Core exhibition totals $21.5 million.
1994
Groundbreaking of the Museum building designed by Kevin Roche is held on October 16.
1987
Professional staff is hired, and the collecting of artifacts, photographs, and survivor and eyewitness video testimony begins.
1986
Lease signing and dedication ceremony is held in Battery Park City. Mission statement is adopted, and Dr. David Altshuler is appointed Director of the Museum. The Commission is reconstituted as the New York Holocaust Memorial Commission, with Governor Mario M. Cuomo and Mayor Edward I. Koch as Founding Chairmen. Robert M. Morgenthau, George Klein, Manfred Ohrenstein, and Peter Cohen serve as Co-Chairmen (to be joined by Howard J. Rubenstein in 1993).
1985
Battery Park City Authority proposes that the Museum be built at the southern tip of Battery Park City.
1982
The New York City Holocaust Memorial Commission is established, with Mayor Koch as Founding Chairman, George Klein and Robert M. Morgenthau as Co-Chairmen, and Senator Jacob K. Javits and Elie Wiesel as Honorary Chairmen, and Dr. David L. Blumenfeld as Executive Director.
1981
Mayor Edward I. Koch appoints a Task Force on the Holocaust with George Klein as Chairman. The Task Force prepares a report recommending building a museum and memorial in New York City.