 | |
| Location | 33 Wakefield St, Adelaide, Australia |
|---|---|
| Type | History museum and education centre |
| Director | Annetay Henderson-Sapir |
| Website | ahmsec |
The Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Andrew Steiner Education Centre (AHMSEC) is a museum housed in the historic Fennescey House at 33 Wakefield Street, in Adelaide city centre, just east of Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga.
Fennescey House belongs to the Catholic Church, and is located on the grounds of St Francis Xavier's Cathedral. [1] The education centre is named after Andrew Steiner OAM , an Adelaide Holocaust survivor and sculptor who had been providing education about the Holocaust to school students for the previous 30 years. [2] He had driven the project, which was largely funded with donations from Gandel Philanthropy. Students of architecture from the University of South Australia were involved in the design of the museum, and the project team for its creation worked closely with the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne. [3] One of Steiner's sculptures, a figure of Polish teacher hero of the Holocaust Janusz Korczak, is a centrepiece of the museum. [2]
The aim of the museum and its education program is to educate people, especially young people, about the history of the Holocaust, [2] to "critically reflect on its themes and their relevance in contemporary society", [4] and to combat antisemitism and racism. [2]
The museum was officially launched on 9 November 2020, the date significantly chosen to commemorate Kristallnacht, when in 1938 German Nazis burnt down synagogues, vandalised homes, schools and businesses belonging to Jews, and killed nearly 100 people, marking the start of the Holocaust. [1] The museum opened its doors to the public a week later, on 17 November 2020. [5]
The museum comprises four galleries: [1]
Shortly before its opening, the federal government announced A$2.5 million of funding for further development of the museum. [2]
After a group of neo-Nazis had posted photographs of themselves giving fascist salutes outside the museum premises on social media, Minister for Multicultural Affairs Zoe Bettison said that there would be a Parliamentary inquiry into "neo-Nazi symbols, the activities of extremist groups, discrimination faced by targeted groups and the prohibition on symbols in other states". [7]
The heritage-listed Fennescey House was designed by architect Harrold Herbert (Herbert) Jory (20 March 1888 – 16 May 1966) in the Gothic Revival style, and built around 1940 as an education office for the Catholic Church. The building's name derives from its patrons, Mary and John Fennescey, who donated £20,000 towards its construction. [8] The building is on the South Australian Heritage Register and is listed by the National Trust of South Australia (NTSA). [9]
Brundibár is a children's opera by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krása with a libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister, made most famous by performances by the children of Theresienstadt concentration camp (Terezín) in occupied Czechoslovakia. The name comes from a Czech colloquialism for a bumblebee.
The Adelaide Institute was a Holocaust denial group in Australia and is considered to be antisemitic by the Australian Human Rights Commission and others. The Adelaide Institute was formed in 1995 from the former Truth Mission that was established in 1994 by Fredrick Töben, later a convicted Holocaust denier. Töben directed the Institute until his incarceration in 2009 in South Australia for contempt of court. Peter Hartung assumed the role of director of the Adelaide Institute. On assuming the role from Töben, Hartung defied the Federal Court by publishing the revisionist material that led to Töben's three months jail time. In June 2009, the Adelaide Institute was linked with an American white supremacist, James von Brunn, charged with killing a security guard in Washington's Holocaust Museum.
The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research library in the state, with a collection focus on South Australian information, being the repository of all printed and audiovisual material published in the state, as required by legal deposit legislation. It holds the "South Australiana" collection, which documents South Australia from pre-European settlement to the present day, as well as general reference material in a wide range of formats, including digital, film, sound and video recordings, photographs, and microfiche. Home access to many journals, newspapers and other resources online is available.
Edinburgh is an outer northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Salisbury. The suburb was created in 1997, on land straddling Penfield and Salisbury, that was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth Government in 1940 in order to manufacture munitions for the war effort during World War II, and later used for a number of defence-related establishments.
The term Holocaust museum may refer to:
The Jewish Museum of Australia, not to be confused with the Sydney Jewish Museum, aims to "explore and share the Jewish experience in Australia". It is located in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne.
St Francis Xavier's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Adelaide, South Australia. It is classified as being a Gothic Revival building in the Early English style. The foundation stone was laid in 1856 and the building was dedicated in 1858. The construction of the tower began in 1887; and was not completed until 1996. The tower stands 36 metres (118 ft) high and is 56.5 metres (185 ft) lengthwise and 29.5 metres (97 ft) horizontally.
Harry Pelling Gill, commonly referred to as H. P. Gill or Harry P. Gill, was an English-born Australian art curator, teacher and painter, who lived in Adelaide, South Australia for much of his life.
Skokie is a 1981 television film directed by Herbert Wise, based on a real life controversy in Skokie, Illinois, involving the National Socialist Party of America. This controversy would be fought in court and reach the level of the United States Supreme Court in National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.
Franz Moishe Kempf was an Australian artist who worked in Australia and Europe. He was a lecturer in printmaking at the University of Adelaide.
Australian Jews, or Jewish Australians, are Jews who are Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. In the 2021 census there were 99,956 people who identified Judaism as their religious affiliation and 29,113 Australians who identified as Jewish by ancestry, an increase from 97,355 and 25,716, respectively, from the 2016 census. The actual number is almost certainly higher, because being a Jew is not just about being religious, but the census data is based on religious affiliation, so secular Jews often feel it would be inaccurate to answer with "Judaism". Also, since the question is optional, many practising Holocaust survivors and Haredi Jews are believed to prefer not to disclose their religion in the census. By comparison, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz estimated a Jewish-Australian population of 120,000–150,000, while other estimates based on the death rate in the community estimate the size of the community as 250,000, which would make them 1% of the population. Based on the census data, Jewish citizens make up about 0.4% of the Australian population. The Jewish community of Australia is composed mostly of Ashkenazi Jews, though there are Jews in Australia from many other traditions and levels of religious observance and participation in the Jewish community.
Walter Hervey Bagot was a South Australian architect. He was one of the last great proponents of the traditional school of South Australian architecture. He founded Woods & Bagot in 1905.
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is a museum located in Skokie, Illinois, near Chicago. According to the Center's mission statement, its founding principle is to "Remember the Past; Transform the Future." Its mission is to preserve the legacy of the Holocaust by honoring victims' memories and to educate in the service of combating hatred, prejudice, and indifference. The Museum fulfills its mission through its collections-based exhibitions and through education programs and other initiatives that promote human rights and the elimination of genocide.
The Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) was founded in Elsternwick, Melbourne, Australia, in 1984 by Holocaust survivors. It is currently Australia’s largest institution dedicated to Holocaust education, research & remembrance. Its mission is to commemorate the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945, and amplify the voices of Holocaust survivors, to inspire a better future free from antisemitism, racism and prejudice.
Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as Wakefield Road on its eastern side, through the eastern Adelaide Park Lands.
The Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre began as Africa's first Holocaust centre founded in 1999. It has sister Centres in Johannesburg and Durban, and together they form part of the association, the South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation (SAHGF). The SAHGF determines the educational and philosophical direction of the centre. It also conducts teacher training and is the only accredited service-provider for in-service training in Holocaust education in the country. It has trained over 5,000 teachers.
John Neylon is a South Australian arts writer and arts educator as well as being an art critic, curator, painter, and printmaker. He is an art critic for The Adelaide Review, an author for Wakefield Press, and a lecturer in art history at Adelaide Central School of Art.
Harrold Herbert Jory, known as Herbert Jory, was a South Australian architect. He was a partner in the leading firm of Woods, Bagot & Jory from 1913, which became Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith from 1915 to 1930, before establishing his own practice, H. H. Jory. Between 1930 and 1940 he partnered with T.A. McAdam, in Jory and McAdam.
Marcus Besen was a Romanian-born Australian businessman, philanthropist, and Holocaust survivor. He was the managing director of fashion retailer Sussan from 1951 to 1980, and he was involved in various philanthropic activities. In 2015, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia.