The Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) (formerly known as the Jewish Holocaust Centre) 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.
The museum was founded without significant public or private funds and thus has always had to rely on support from Holocaust survivors, their relatives, volunteers and philanthropists. It is thanks to the unique contribution of Melbourne's Holocaust survivors that the MHM has become a vibrant institution. The museum holds a collection of over 1300 survivor video testimonials and over 12,000 historical artefacts, including documents, photos, artworks and objects from the Holocaust and immediate-post Holocaust era.
Miriam Fink was a member of the centre's original organising committee and together with her husband Leo, she established the Leo and Mina Fink Fund, which enabled the purchase of the Centre's building.[1] [2]
In 2019, the museum began a major redevelopment project with Kerstin Thompson Architects[3] and McCorkell Constructions. The museum closed to the public in 2020,[4] with the redevelopment scheduled for completion in 2023. In April 2023, ahead of their anticipated reopening, they also updated their name to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, with a fresh logo.[5] [6]
In November 2023 the museum officially reopened to the public with two permanent exhibition spaces. The first, titled 'Everybody Had a Name', follows the chronology of the Holocaust, beginning with pre-war Jewish life, and closing with how local survivors rebuilt their lives in Melbourne after the war.[7] The second, 'Hidden: Seven Children Saved', is an immersive exhibition designed for younger audiences (10+). It follows the journey of seven children who were in hiding during the Holocaust.[8] [9] The new museum also features a reinstallation of the Pillars of Witness sculpture by Andrew Rogers.[10]
The museum focuses on educating younger generations against hate, with tens of thousands of students visiting the museum every year to participate in MHM's powerful age-appropriate education programs.
Apart from guided tours through the museum, the MHM offers adult education programs, teacher training and also hosts a range of thought-provoking events which are open to the public.
Since 2008 Austrian volunteers from the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service are able to work for 10–12 months in the MHM alternatively to compulsory military service or civilian service in Austria. Their work includes, among other things, the translation of documents, the preparation of exhibitions, working in the library and cataloguing of photographs.