Fall/Winter 2010

It’s impossible to ignore the symbolism of the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus in Farmington Hills, Michigan: Barbed wire encircles the building and parts of it are painted in the blue and gray stripes of concentration camp uniforms.

Inside, with the help of timelines, memorials and hands-on displays and exhibits, the museum details the history of Jewish life, culture, beliefs and holidays, along with the rise of Nazism and the defining moment Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) in November of 1938, which is considered the start of the Holocaust.

In the section of the museum known as The Final Solution, visitors are taken into a cattle car to gain an understanding of the cramped confines on the way to concentration camps, followed by a separation process that shows how families were pulled apart upon arrival.

At the end of the tour, there is the hall of the “righteous,” recognizing non-Jews who saved or assisted Jewish people during the war, along with exhibits detailing other post-war occurrences and moving survivor speeches, both taped and live. See the powerful Kindertransport Memory Quilt exhibit, which shows squares made by people who fled Eastern Europe as children and were welcomed by families in Great Britain after Kristallnacht.

Traveling exhibits change a few times a year, so check the website and online newsletters for information. Currently, the center is featuring “Synagogues in Germany: A Virtual Reconstruction” through Nov. 29, which shows designs of 14 temples destroyed by Nazi violence. 

- State - Michigan

- Type - Historic Tours

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