Sydney Jewish Museum - History and Description

History and Description

The Sydney Jewish Museum identifies the 16 Jews who arrived on the First Fleet and describes life for those people and their families in the early days in the settlement of Australia. The main purpose of the museum, however, is to document and teach the history of the Holocaust. It does this over three floors of exhibitions, video presentations, newspaper clippings, pictures, narrations, letters and first hand accounts. There are also guided tours; one of the guides is Olga Horak, a Holocaust survivor.

Museum address: 148 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 (corner of Burton St and Darlinghurst Rd).

The Sydney Jewish Museum is dedicated to documenting and teaching the history of the Holocaust so that these events will never be repeated.

This world-class museum challenges visitors' perceptions of democracy, morality, social justice and human rights and places the Holocaust in its historical and contemporary context.

The Museum is an integral part of the cultural life of Sydney, winning the 1994 Award of Distinction in the NSW Tourism Awards for Excellence, and a Commendation in the 1995 Human Rights Awards.

The Museum has a large range of programs for both adults and students, strongly supported by an active library and resource centre. This centre also houses the nearly 3,000 Australian oral, Survivor testimonies provided to the USC Shoah Foundation through the international Spielberg program. These testimonies are available to visitors for casual browsing as well as to students for serious research.

There are many reasons why this Museum is important: to teach racial tolerance; to ensure the evils of the past are not repeated; to serve as a witness to the Holocaust and to stand as a memorial to the six million martyred Jews and the millions of non-Jewish victims. It also tells the history of the Jews in Australia and illustrates the richness of Jewish life by showing its traditions. The Museum's timeline invites you to explore Jewish history from its Biblical origin in the Ancient Near East to the thriving community here in Australia.

Major Features • Permanent Exhibitions: Culture & Continuity and The Holocaust

• Temporary Exhibition area: The Gallery

• Library and Resource Centre

• Museum Shop

• War Memorial Forecourt

• 100-seat Theatrette

• Education / Classroom facilities

• Sanctum of Remembrance.

Visitors to the Sydney Jewish Museum are fascinated as much by the story itself, as by the way it is told, with its emphasis on excellence of design and technology. Within eight spectacular exhibition areas, visitors experience soundscapes and powerful audiovisual displays, confront life-size sculptures and dioramas, examine original documents and newspapers, and interact with sophisticated multimedia displays.