Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
 View of the Museum and Education Center from the Northeast | |
  | |
| Established | 1981 (Original Site) 2009 (Current Site) |
|---|---|
| Location | 9603 Woods Drive Skokie, Illinois |
| Type | Holocaust memorials |
| Visitors | over 300,000 |
| Director | Richard Hirschhaut |
| President | Fritzie Fritzshall |
| Curator | Arielle Weininger |
| Architect | Stanley Tigerman |
| Public transit access | CTA and Pace buses |
| Website | ilholocaustmuseum.org |
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is the main memorial and educational center for The Holocaust in the Midwestern United States. Its foundation cost was 45 million dollars, its area is about 20,000 square meters and it exhibits some hundred Holocaust related items, including a train car of the type that was used to transport people to concentration camps, and about 2000 video recorded testimonies of holocaust and other genocide survivors.
History
The Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, which runs the museum, began as small storefront operation along Main Street in 1981. The foundation and small museum were established as a response to a Neo-Nazi group's attempt to march through Skokie,[1] in which many Holocaust survivors live.
The new museum building opened to the public on April 19, 2009, in the attendance of keynote speaker Bill Clinton and special guest Elie Wiesel. President Barack Obama spoke through a recorded video message, as did Shimon Peres, president of Israel.[2]
Security arrangements at the museum were tightened after the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting on June 10, 2009.[3]
Architecture
The building was designed by Stanley Tigerman. The Interior and Exhibition was co-designed by Yitzchak Mais, a former director of Yad Vashem. The Holocaust expedition occupies the first floor, beside the auditorium, the main entrance hall, the information and membership desks, the coatroom, the gift shop, and library.
The upper floor contains the remembrance areas, the art gallery, the upper part of the auditorium, and offices. The basement contains classrooms, exhibition for children, an exhibition on the building’s history, and a conference area.
The building’s main front is divided into two halves. The black half includes the entrance doors and the white half includes the exit doors. Between the two halves of the main front, there are objects that resemble torches. The main front is located in a narrow alley with a small parking lot on its northeast side. A wooded slope separates the museum from the highway I-94. As a result, one cannot view the entire front from any place.
Location and access
The museum is located in the northwest corner of Skokie, west of the Edens Expressway (I-94). The nearest exit is Old Orchard Road. To the east of the museum is also an abandoned railroad right of way. This right of way is considered for a new CTA Yellow Line extension, with a new terminal station in the proximity of the museum. The museum is already accessible through several bus lines nearby: CTA lines 205 and 54A, and Pace lines 208 and 422.
References
- ^ Levine, Lisbeth (2009-04-17). "Skokie To Open New Holocaust Museum: Site of Neo-Nazi March That Launched Shoah Education". The Forward. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ Goldberger, Ben (2009-04-19). "Illinois Holocaust Museum Opens In Skokie: Bill Clinton, Elie Wiesel Address Crowd Of Thousands". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
- ^ Isaacs, Mike (2009-06-10). "D.C. shooting prompts heightened security at Illinois Holocaust Museum". Skokie Review. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, "Skokie Builds to Remember,” The Forward, April 24, 2009.
External links
See also
- Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies: Jewish educational and cultural center in Chicago