— Exhibition joins Museum’s portfolio of new programs and exhibits that teach about the dangers of hate and antisemitism, past to present —
New York, NY – On September 18, 2024, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will open Speaking Up! Confronting Hate Speech in its Rita Lowenstein Gallery. The exhibition underscores the power of words that can lead to discrimination, persecution, and mass violence against marginalized groups, and provides tools to empower visitors to counter hateful rhetoric in their own communities.
Timed for the new school year, the exhibition is one of many new initiatives the Museum is introducing or expanding as part of its increased work to educate students across the city and beyond about the dangers of hate, propaganda, and historic and contemporary antisemitism. These efforts include the Museum’s Antisemitism FAQ Educator Resource, the expansion of its Holocaust Educator School Partnership, and the upcoming video installation, Survivor Stories: An Interactive Dialogue – which will use artificial intelligence to allow visitors to interact with 10 Holocaust survivors.
Of special note, New York students who begin visiting the Museum through its groundbreaking new Holocaust Education School Tours program for all public and charter school 8th graders will have the opportunity to experience Speaking Up! Confronting Hate Speech in addition to the Museum’s primary exhibitions, Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark and The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do. This $2.5 million initiative — funded in part by the Gray Foundation’s Mindy and Jon Gray — is being offered entirely free of charge to schools and will allow the Museum to serve over 85,000 students over three years.
Additionally, the Museum released its Antisemitism FAQ Educator Resource following the October 7th massacre in Israel in response to numerous questions — and requests for support — from students and teachers to help them understand historical and contemporary antisemitism. The Resource features a series of questions commonly asked about antisemitism, accompanied by helpful answers and background information for educators to use, ensuring an accurate and tolerant approach to the subject. Answers address topics that include the roots of antisemitism, why Jews were targeted during the Holocaust, how the Holocaust ties into current events, and how to identify antisemitic tropes.
Presented in response to the October 7th massacre, Speaking Up! illustrates the prevalence of identity-based violence today, detailing the historical lessons of genocide and current examples of today’s pressing dangers to teach visitors about the connection between words and mass atrocities, with examples of hate, discrimination and bias spanning the globe, including Rwanda, Indonesia, and Ethiopia, and against groups — such as Native Americans, African Americans, and Asian American Pacific Islanders — based on their race or ethnicity in the United States. The exhibition will prove invaluable to youth who could draw a connection between hate they experience and what others might experience.
Rooted in the Museum’s crucial mission to fight antisemitism through education, this exhibition highlights the relationship between hatred of Jews and identity-based discrimination in many forms. Beyond memorializing Holocaust survivors and victims, Speaking Up! provides an interdisciplinary framework to understand the stakes of anti-Jewish sentiment today.
“With antisemitism and hateful rhetoric at an all-time high, the Museum is pleased to offer a space aimed at calling everyday people to counter hate speech,” said Jack Kliger, President and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage. “Identity-based violence like genocide is rarely, if ever, a spontaneous event. Speaking Up! teaches visitors about the violence that ensued during the Holocaust as a result of words, while showing that bigotry is no less prevalent today.”
Hate speech can create an environment of fear that renders it near-impossible to learn about or respect one another’s differences. “At this critical juncture, we are activating our exhibition offerings on Holocaust history in a new way, presenting hate speech as a pervasive phenomenon across cultures and historical periods,” said Sara Softness, Director of Curatorial Affairs. “The Museum’s young audiences represent the extraordinary diversity of New York City, and this exhibition supports students from all backgrounds in developing the media literacy and critical thinking skills necessary for responsible citizenship.”
The Speaking Up! Confronting Hate Speech exhibition was conceptualized, produced, and displayed by Holocaust Museum Houston in 2020-2021, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage is adding additional content introducing the relevance of the exhibition at this moment in world history, including an incident of white nationalism that took place on the Museum’s campus when a Confederate flag was found tied to the front doors in the wake of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Speaking Up! Confronting Hate Speech was curated by the Holocaust Museum Houston in partnership with Leora Kahn, Ph.D.; PROOF: Media for Social Justice; David J. Simon, Director, Genocide Studies Program, Yale University; and the Genocide Center in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is made possible by the Goldie & David Blanksteen Foundation; Michael Lowenstein and Sheri Warshaw; The Gallery Educator Friends of the Museum; Nancy Fisher; and other generous donors. The presentation is organized by Treva Walsh, Associate Curator.
TICKET INFORMATION
For more information and to purchase tickets to the Museum of Jewish Heritage visit https://mjhnyc.org/visitor-information/
- $18 Adults
- $12 ADA/Access, Seniors, Students, Veterans
- FREE to children under 12 and NYC DOE K-12 students
- FREE to Holocaust Survivors, active members of the military, first responders
MUSEUM HOURS
Sunday and Wednesday: 10AM to 5PM
Thursday: 10AM to 8PM
Friday: 10AM to 5PM
The Museum will be closed on all other days, on Jewish Holidays, and on Thanksgiving.
DIRECTIONS
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is located at Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place, New York, NY 10280. For directions, visit: https://mjhnyc.org/visitor-information/location-directions