A milestone moment
W
e are fast approaching a massive milestone in our JHC redevelopment project, where McCorkell Construction will hand over the keys. We are so delighted with how the building looks; it stands as a solid testament to the endurance of Holocaust survivors who settled in Melbourne and contributed to this place. Its spacious and warm wooden interiors are designed to reflect the warmth we wish to create for those who come into our new home. Reflective surfaces throughout encourage visitors to contemplate their own place in the world, and how the knowledge they are encountering in the building can impact them personally. Our museum spaces will impart difficult histories to those who enter so we have a number of places in which to contemplate and remember. Most notable will be our memorial space and our Garden of the Pillars of Witness. The project experienced some delays due to COVID-19 impacts on the building industry as well as supply chain issues, however we feel fortunate that this has not been significant. Kerstin Thompson Architects have worked tirelessly throughout to ensure every detail looks incredible and have managed the countless issues that have arisen as the building unfolded before our eyes. ”When can I visit?“ is the question on everyone’s lips. We are aiming for a public launch towards the end of the year, once the museum is finished, there is still much work to be done to fit out the internal spaces, each room with its own intricacies. We may however inhabit the building earlier, and even begin educating students in the Learning Hub before the museum is ready to open. The permanent museum project has been intensive as the curatorial team have scoured our collection and beyond to identify key artefacts to display. We are blessed to have (and continue to receive) incredible artefacts and documents from our community. It really is astounding to see the material that survivors brought with them to
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JHC Centre News
Australia, documents that have been hidden away for decades in boxes out of reach, suddenly seeing the light of day. Titled ‘Everybody Had a Name’ the exhibition starts with an immersion into pre-war Jewish life in Europe, featuring home movies, photos, artwork and Jewish ritual objects. This world is shattered by the rise of Nazism in Germany, the anti-Jewish laws and finally the events of the November 1938 pogrom. As the war starts and Jews are labelled and controlled in ghettos and camps, the utter dehumanisation is revealed alongside the incredible spirit of those that resisted through maintaining culture and continuing to practice their religion, in defiance of Nazi orders. The culmination of the Holocaust focusses on mass murder in death camps and in killing fields, with the Treblinka model created by Chaim Sztajer remaining the focal point. A powerful section on Children reminds us of the need to especially honour and acknowledge the innocents among the innocents. For the survivors this has always the most important aspect to feature. A birch forest feature divides the section highlighting mass atrocities to the next focus on resistance and survival in hiding. Explorations of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Righteous Among the Nations – those who saved Jews – are featured before reaching Liberation. The final part of the museum looks at life after the war: Displaced Persons’ Camps, rebuilding life, immigration to Australia. A large showcase highlights some of the survivors who made a mark on Melbourne before we end with one of our survivors looking back and reflecting on how ‘everybody had a name, nobody had a grave’. The exhibition invites visitors to stop and think: knowing what you now know, how will you act in the world today? We are excited to invite all of you into the new centre later in the year and express our profound gratitude to all our donors and supporters.
