A new era | Toronto Holocaust Museum

Almost half of Canada’s 335,000-strong Jewish population live in Toronto, many who settled there after fleeing persecution in Europe during world war two. However, the city did not have a museum dedicated to their stories until last year, when the Toronto Holocaust Museum opened. 

It has come at a turbulent time. There is growing anxiety among Jewish communities across the globe about the sharp rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial in the wake of last October’s attack on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza.

Those who preserve the memory of the Shoah are keenly aware that the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis will soon be beyond living memory, and Toronto Holocaust Museum is one of the first such institutions to be designed with the post-survivor era in mind.

Dara Solomon, executive director of the museum, spoke about the work it is doing to ensure the stories of those who lived through the Holocaust are never forgotten.

Why was the museum created?  

Dara Solomon: The museum grew out of an extraordinary 40-year history of engaging students in Holocaust education in our former space – the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre – primarily by providing first-person testimony from Holocaust survivors and via the annual Holocaust Education Week.

The former space became physically and pedagogically out of date and, sadly, we are approaching the end of the era when Holocaust survivors can meet with audiences.

In order to continue much needed Holocaust education, especially with rising antisemitism, a new space was required to preserve and share the voices of survivors in a dynamic setting that inspires critical thinking and expanded knowledge about the Holocaust and its contemporary relevance. 

What are some key objects? 

At the heart of the museum are the survivor testimony clips presented on 11 large interactive kiosks. They were developed to bring the narratives of the Holocaust to life through individual experiences.

Visitors can see through the lens of the diverse and unique experiences of hundreds of people who survived.

The testimonies work with artefacts that support learning and exploration of this challenging period.

Objects of note include a prison camp uniform; various identification badges and documents mandated by the Nazis; saved and rescued objects of Judaica; and Schutz-Passes (Certificates of Protection) issued by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who engaged in heroic efforts to save Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.

One extraordinary set of artefacts, on loan from the Brady Family Collection, are heart-shaped charms made by Marketa Brady using her bread ration, which she was able to send to her two young children – George and Hanna – who had not yet been imprisoned. 

What is the building like? 

The museum is in the Sheff Family Building – a new addition to the Sherman Campus, a social and cultural hub for the Jewish community located in a forested ravine.

The museum is made up of a welcoming atrium that introduces pre-war Jewish life, a welcome desk, theatre, four main galleries, a memorial space and a Learning Lab.

The four galleries – Persecution; Atrocities and Devastation; Liberation and Aftermath; and Life in Canada – are curved, interconnected spaces. The memorial space is an immersive, forested area.

When people approach the panels, the names of thousands of Holocaust victims light up. For students, the visit ends with the Learning Lab, where educators facilitate discussions on the contemporary relevance of the Holocaust.

How does the museum look to the post-survivor era?

The voice of our survivors is at the heart of the experience. In addition to the testimony stations, there is a tablet experience for self-discovery and a curated experience with augmented reality as well as many other ways to connect with survivor testimony and stories.

Visitors have shared that this approach has been incredibly impactful as the stories feel fresh and they walk away with a sense of humanity, rather than just death and destruction.  

It’s important that this history is not taught in a vacuum and that we make connections to the present. Our public programme engages in ongoing conversations around the relevance of this history, new scholarships and lesser-told stories.

Now, more than ever – in this era of misinformation and Holocaust distortion – it’s important that the museum reaches audiences of all backgrounds to engage with this history. 

How have visitors reacted? 

What is most fulfilling for our staff is to hear people say that they walk away with a strong sense of the humanity of the Jewish people.

Our intention was to personalise the narrative of the Holocaust and to avoid showing horrific, graphic images of the Holocaust atrocities with unnamed victims.

We feel that these curatorial decisions help people to learn about who Jews are, what they experienced, how they survived and their resilience in resettling in Canada after the war.