The Holocaust Gallery 

The Holocaust Gallery was developed with the support of Auckland's Jewish community and tells the story of the Holocaust through artefacts, photographs and the personal stories of refugees who came to New Zealand.

LEVEL 2

Six million Jews in central Europe were systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War; the horrific event we know as the Holocaust. Jews call it the Shoah.

The horrors in Nazi Europe progressed from informal to legal discrimination, to governmentally sanctioned violence (Kristallnacht), to internments, to the death camps where an entire race of people were to meet their deaths. At any point this escalation could have been halted; one theme of this gallery is that individuals make choices to act or not to act. The Holocaust was not inevitable.

This unashamedly emotional gallery was developed with the integral support of the Auckland Hebrew community. It tells the story of the Holocaust itself through artefacts and photos. Jewish refugees to New Zealand tell their personal stories through oral histories - from the beginnings of the persecutions, to the ghettos, the concentration camps and, finally, finding refuge in New Zealand. Works of art express the tragedy more eloquently than words ever could.

The bricks used in this gallery were taken from the Warsaw Ghetto.

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