Dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945, the Melbourne Holocaust Museum (mhm.org.au; adult/child $18/14) offers visitors a sobering but enriching experience. Founded by survivors in 1984, the museum won a major Australian architecture award when it was redesigned in 2023.
The main permanent exhibition, titled "Everybody Had a Name," recounts the events of the Holocaust in historical panels and through personal stories illustrated by photographs, artifacts, newsreels and a disturbing scale model of Treblinka II built in the 1980s by a Melburnian survivor. Next to it, In the Footsteps is a multimedia installation allowing visitors to view video testimony by six local survivors. Contemplative spaces include the Memorial Room and the Garden of the Pillars of Witness, with its striking bronze sculptures and eternal flame.
As an alternative to the harrowing main exhibits, Hidden: Seven Children Saved (adult/child $12/10) is specifically designed for children aged 10 years and over. It relates the incredible stories of seven Jewish children who attribute their survival to the kindness of others.
The museum is closed on Mondays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Set aside 90 minutes to do it justice.
