Illinois Holocaust Museum Education Center Offers Half Price Admission in April to Skokie and Morton Grove Residents in Honor of 5th Anniversary

The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will celebrate its 5th Anniversary on April 19, 2014. In honor of this milestone, half price admission will be offered to Skokie and Morton Grove residents for the entire month of April as a thank you to the villages for their integral support.

This special offer allows Skokie and Morton Grove residents to explore a local treasure that is likely the last major Holocaust memorial to be built in collaboration with survivors, and the largest center in the Midwest dedicated to preserving the memories of those lost in the Holocaust and to teaching current generations about the dangers of overt prejudice and hate. To receive the discount, visitors must present their Illinois’ State Driver’s License or proof of residency.

Designed by renowned Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, the 65,000 square-foot Illinois Holocaust Museum is a culmination of 30 years of hard work by the local Holocaust survivor community who—after neo-Nazis threatened to march in Skokie in the late 1970s— formed the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois and purchased a small Skokie storefront that focused on combating hate with education.

Since opening day, the Museum has hosted programs that feature notable dignitaries, humanitarians, scholars and Holocaust and genocide survivors.  Through its programs and exhibitions that aim to foster the promotion of human rights and elimination of genocide, the Museum has reached children and adults representing diverse ages, races, religions and backgrounds from across the Midwest.

The Museum’s Karkomi Permanent Exhibition tells the story of the Holocaust through the testimony, artifacts and photographs of Midwestern survivors, many from the Chicago area. The Museum also features the Make a Difference! The Harvey L. Miller Family Youth Exhibition, where children ages 8 to 12 can discover ways to respect differences, address bullying, and take a stand on issues that matter to them. The Museum’s “Legacy of Absence” gallery is home to a permanent collection of visual artwork by distinguished contemporary artists from around the world that reflect on historical violence, revealing the continued impact of genocide and atrocities, including Cambodia, Rwanda, Argentina, and the Soviet Gulag. Its Brill Family Resource Center serves as the Midwest repository for more than 2,000 Holocaust survivor testimonies as recorded by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.

In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the Museum also hosts special exhibitions that explore broad themes related to its mission. Ruth Gruber: Photojournalist, open through June 1, 2014, celebrates the remarkable life, vision, and heroic tenacity of a 20th century pioneer and trailblazing photojournalist. Now 102 years old, Gruber’s work spans more than five decades, from her groundbreaking work in the Soviet Arctic in the 1930s and her iconic images of Jewish refugees on the ship Exodus 1947, to her later work in the 1980s documenting Ethiopian Jews in the midst of a civil war. Helen Suzman: Fighter for Human Rights, open through April 20, 2014, highlights one of South Africa’s most vociferous and energetic opponents of apartheid. The exhibition also highlights her enduring friendship with the late Nelson Mandela which began in early 1967 when she met him at the infamous Robben Island Prison.

The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Holocaust by honoring the memories of those who were lost and by teaching universal lessons that combat hatred, prejudice and indifference. The Museum fulfills its mission through the exhibition, preservation and interpretation of its collections and through education programs and initiatives that foster the promotion of human rights and the elimination of genocide. The Museum is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.; Thursday evenings until 8:00 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Learn more at www.illinoisholocaustmuseum.org.