Montreal, Canada's Holocaust Museum where we pledge to care
Written: Sep 15 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderful artifacts and displays I've never seen.
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: This is a must see Museum. I am still amazed at all I learned.
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| jo.com's Full Review: The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre Museum |
Tonight is the start of the Highest of Holy Days for Jews around the world- Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. This review is dedicated to all the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.
Details of the museum:
We went to the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre Museum during our summer vacation. It was to be perhaps the most unusual Holocaust Museum or Memorial we have seen! We were totally surprised by the size of it because it is in the Jewish Cultural Center and Senior Center. The name isn’t on the building so we had to look for the number and then as we walked closer we could see that the museum was listed as being inside. We were expecting a museum like the The Rhode Island Holocaust Museum but couldn’t have been more wrong!
The address is 5151 Côte Ste-Catherine Rd, which is in Cummings Square. The telephone number is (514)345-2605.
The hours are Sunday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM (May - August); Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Wednesday 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM; and on Friday 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM but because of our Sabbath call to confirm Friday hours before you go.
It is suggested that you allow 1-2 hours. We spent 3 1/2 hours here. There is no parking lot but there is plenty of street parking. Admission is $8.00 and $5.00 for students.
The Museum is accessible to people with mobility and hearing impairments. All the films can be seen with either English or French subtitles. One thing (among many) that really struck me were the benches. I’ve been to many museums and many of the seats aren’t comfortable. However at the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre Museum the hard seats were made on purpose. In some sects of the Jewish religion relatives of the dead sit on boxes or something hard so they are not comfortable in respect for their loved one. This happens for seven days. In addition metal wouldn’t be used because metal symbolizes war – particularly for the more observant. Thus we sat on very hard wood benches.
We walked into the building where a guard was at the desk and checked my pocketbook. We were then shown to a door. As I walked through I saw the words "In Memory of those who perished/In Honour of those who survived/In Recognition of those who will educated future generations/ In Tribute all who will not forget."
I thought I would find one room of relics. I found
over 400 original artifacts, over 300 photographs and documents. I saw film footage I’ve never seen anywhere including US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.. Many of the films are eyewitness testimony by Montreal Holocaust survivors.
I didn’t know that Montreal has the 2nd or 3rd largest population of Jewish survivors. (Israel having the most.) I also learned that the museum started in a basement in 1979 as a way of teaching people about the Holocaust and to refute the denialists. I had never heard that term but certainly know that some do not believe the Holocaust happened. The museum eventually was moved and expanded on. Its purpose is to educate not to focus on the atrocities although one can’t learn about the Holocaust and separate the word atrocity. You will not find hundreds of shoes piled up or thousands of personal belongings.
I’ve mentioned a few times things I’ve learned. I learned this not by a tape but with a volunteer. As we entered and paid a very nice woman took us into the first room. There were a few other people but it wasn’t crowded on a Wednesday in July. She started explaining items we saw and then asked if we were Jewish. The reason for that question was her desire to teach. She knew there were artifacts she could skip over since we obviously would know what some were. This woman considered herself a survivor although she didn’t survive the concentration camps. She got out of Romania in time thus is a survivor. After awhile she asked if we would like her to walk with us and we said yes. Her knowledge was enormous – she was fascinating and knew more than I could have learned had I read a few books. The museum has 70 volunteers.
Some personal thoughts:
Holocaust museums always bring me to tears but this one more than any. It was incredibly important to our guide and it is to the museum to show that the Jewish community was vibrant and alive before the Holocaust. So we saw films and displays of just that- regular people doing regular things. Whether they were shopkeepers, lawyers or shoesmiths, the Jewish community was part of Germany. More than once I heard a survivor say, "We fought for this country."
The objects are fantastic and beautiful in spite of the horrors some of them depict. They are presented beautifully behind glass and in an orderly fashion. There weren’t so many in any one area that it was overwhelming to look at. Each object was described and explained where it came from beautifully. One artifact that struck me is called a tzadaka box. I had never seen anything like it. A tzadaka box can be anything that one puts in money. It is a way to collect money for people in need. When my children were in religious school, once a week they would bring in money for the tzadaka box. The reason it was so different and so poignant was because it opened in the back. We learned from our guide that it opened so that widowed women who were in need could open the box without being noticed and take the money they needed to feel their children and themselves.
Our guide said that the museum’s outreach is to children over the age of 10 to teach them and because “we can never forget” and the best way to do that is by teaching the children. Truly soon there will be no survivors left and for those who believe that we can never forget, no matter what your religion, telling your children about the Holocaust is the best way to keep the memories of those lost alive.
We started with a wonderful film about life in Germany before the Holocaust. We saw pictures while people talked about their family. Then we went downstairs (elevator) where we learned about WWI. This may be where I was the most blown away for lack of better words. We learned (or at least I did- I can’t speak for my husband he may have known this) that when the Treaty of Versailles (a peace treaty) was written the Germans hated it. They blamed the Jews for losing WWI. We started seeing the beginning of racism on this floor with Jewish children being teased and being blamed for the worsening economic plight. We also learned that within a 15 year span Jews were Nobel Prize winners out of a total of 39 including Einstein so there has always been a lot of jealousy.
What was jaw dropping was a picture of a store with a sign saying “Only do business with German stores.” This sign was in English as well as in German. Our guide asked us if we saw anything unusual about the sign. We had to think about it for a moment. Please picture this sign and think about it. What is wrong with this picture and what are the implications? (This is not a test but the answer will be at the bottom.)
In the section on WWII we learned how the German Jews were deceived into believing that racism was all temporary; we saw a film on book burning and on survivors talking about the horrors that were beginning but again they though it would soon end. There were only two small exhibits on the atrocity itself.
We saw various armbands all Jews had to wear with some form of the Star of David. We saw some official document marked with a J. One of the most poignant items was a woman’s striped dress worn in a death camp. The blood is still on it.
Another fantastic display is seen in Montreal and nowhere else. A local woman made it for the museum. You will see a list of terms used for the concentration camps and their definitions. These terms were used to disguise what the concentration camps actually were. For example rather than sending people for extermination they were sent for special treatment.
I learned that Paraguay and the Dominican Republic were two countries that took in Jews when most including the United States and Canada would not.
I learned a lot about the Kindertransport. In the last nine months before World War II, nearly 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children escaped from Germany on trains headed for the freedom of Britain. All hoped it would be a brief separation, for most it was a final farewell. The last train left Germany just two days before the start of the war.
At the end there was a section on liberation with the collaborators on one side and the helpers on the other. It was really well done with a helper – for example Schindler and the name and picture of a Canadian family he helped.
There was information on the resistance movement that I had never seen before. Resistance can be done in many forms. It can be spiritual as well as physical. For example we saw a card made in the shape of a flower given to a friend. Making this card took great effort because she embroidered a letter on it, which meant she had to take thread from her dress at some time. We learned that even lighting a menorah was a type of resistance.
The last section we come to shows a picture of a synagogue in Warsaw that had been destroyed and the man and others who made this museum possible who had gone there to collect some artifacts including some items that the Germans figured they would use for themselves to show a people who once were.
Then we walked into a room and again I was in tears. If you don’t want to read about the final room in this museum because you would rather see it first hand this is a WARNING- skip the next paragraph.
In this room are two objects. One is a column from the synagogue in Warsaw mentioned above. The other is a urn of ashes from the Auschwitz death camp. The column stands with a flame hanging over it. Six candles are lit on a sill representing the six main death camps. Usually there are names somewhere. This museum chose not to put 6 million names on the wall. Rather one wall has the names of the concentration camps on one wall and the other has the names of all the cities and towns affected by the Holocaust. A bench is in the room for contemplation.
Continue here if you skipped the above.
There is a very small section of books, cards and pins you can buy. There is no store; these items are displayed as you enter which is the same area you will leave.
Jo’s final thoughts:
The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre Museum “stands as an indictment against indifference, encouraging visitors to take ownership of the absolute responsibility to fight intolerance in all its forms.” It is incredibly done with artifacts and information I have never seen. Having a personal tour made our trip there even more special. It seems that someone is available to guide people around but if you want to make sure you get a tour guide call ahead of time.
The answer to the question above: Why was the sign in English as well as German? If you think about it there is no reason that the sign should have been in English. No one in Germany spoke English. It was in English because the Germans knew English speaking countries would see it. It was a test and the world failed. The Germans
were trying to see what the world would do and most did nothing.
L'Shanah Tovah
I am keeping track of the reviews I am writing chronicling our 3-month cross country trip:
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Other Holocaust related reviews:
US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
Museum of Jewish Heritage
The New England Holocaust Memorial
The Rhode Island Holocaust Museum
Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg
The Holocaust Memorial in Miami, Florida
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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