New Exhibit at Museum of Jewish Heritage Answers Hate Speech
The Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Place) has debuted “Speaking Up! Confronting Hate Speech,” an exhibition about the power of words to fuel discrimination, persecution, and mass violence.
Documenting the prevalence of identity-based violence today, the show sheds light on the connection between words and mass atrocities around the world and close to home. It also offers tools that empower visitors to counter hateful rhetoric in their own communities.
Rooted in the Museum’s mission to fight antisemitism through education, this exhibition underscores 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 contemporary anti-Jewish sentiment.
“Identity-based violence, like genocide, is rarely, if ever, a spontaneous event,” reflects museum president Jack Kliger. “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.”
Timed for the new school year, the show is part of larger program of offerings designed to educate students across the city about the dangers of hate, propaganda, and historic and contemporary antisemitism. These initiatives 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 ten Holocaust survivors.
All of these are part of the Museum’s new Holocaust Education School Tours program (open to all public and charter school eighth graders), which includes the Museum’s primary exhibitions, “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark” and “The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do.”
“We are activating our exhibition offerings on Holocaust history in a new way,” explains said Sara Softness, the museum’s director of curatorial affairs. “We are presenting hate speech as a pervasive phenomenon across cultures and historical periods. This supports students from all backgrounds in developing the media literacy and critical thinking skills necessary for responsible citizenship.”