Support grows for Holocaust museum
Local
The man behind a new Holocaust museum in Adelaide is confident that a funding goal of $250,000 will be reached by early next year.
The Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre (AHMSEC) is the brainchild of Adelaide artist and Holocaust survivor Andrew Steiner OAM who has delivered education programs to local schools and universities for 27 years to raise awareness of the Holocaust and to promote a kinder and more compassionate society.
His bold vision to establish a museum in the Catholic Archdiocese’s historic Fennescey House in Wakefield St is expected to be a reality by mid-2019.
The original concept has grown from one display room to the entire lower floor of the building. This follows significant donations from interstate philanthropists including John and Pauline Gandel and the Frenkiel Trust. Mr Steiner said there had also been good support from the small Jewish community in Adelaide which had raised about $50,000 to date.
“It’s a diminishing community here so this is an outstanding contribution,” he said.
The free museum will be open to members of the public from Monday to Thursday as well as on Sundays, with a strong focus on school group tours.
The design of the museum is a collaboration with UniSA interior architecture students and will include interactive displays and a gallery featuring the personal stories of a number of South Australian Holocaust survivors.
In addition to Mr Steiner’s own sculptures, artwork from internationally renowned Franz Kampf has also been received.
Righteous Amongst the Nations – an exhibition from Yas Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem highlighting the impact of indifference and those non-Jews who stood up to Hitler and the Nazis – is likely to be the first in AHMSEC’s permanent collection.
Mr Steiner said the Adelaide Archdiocese had generously offered the western side of the building after the original plans were expanded.
The annual Remembrance of the Shoah service will be held at 7pm Thursday November 8 in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral.
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