Florida Holocaust Museum

The Florida Holocaust Museum grew out of a small museum in the " Jewish Community Center " in Madeira Beach, located since 1998 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Today, the Florida Holocaust Museum is the fifth largest Holocaust museum in the United States and the most important in the Southeast.

The founder of the museum, Walter Praise Mountain, a Holocaust survivor from Frankfurt / Main was able to acquire an original railcar from Poland. This artifact is today the center of the exhibition dar. The proof that this car was actually used during the Holocaust to order civilians to transport to the concentration camps, was provided therein by a European girl ring from the 30s of the 20th century between the wooden planks of the car was found.

The Florida Holocaust Museum consists of three levels:

The ground floor is the permanent exhibition, which deals with the history of the Holocaust. It is organized chronologically, effectively covering the entire period of the Weimar Republic to the Nuremberg trials from. The exhibition section at the beginning deals with the history of antisemitism and at the end of the exhibition present day racism is addressed.

The first and second floor is home to many temporary exhibitions. The majority of these works deal is from the art exhibition is related to the Holocaust and Holocaust topics. Sometimes there are also historical exhibitions such as the exhibition " Humanity beyond barbed wire " that have lived the life of the German POWs in Florida employed. This exhibition has been put together for the most part by Gerold Meininger the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service.

Another important pillar of the museum is the education program. Florida is one of the few U.S. states that have enshrined the Holocaust in the lesson plan. The Florida Holocaust Museum plays a very important role. Case with teaching materials are free of charge to schools across the country ( Alaska and Hawaii excluded) awarded, and numerous school groups are welcome at the museum. Teachers are taught in regular training evenings. A summer institute completes the offer.

The Florida Holocaust Museum is also distinguished by its close contact with Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans. At each visit a school group talking a Holocaust survivor to the students. Since the Holocaust survivors are aging, this is also resorted to Holocaust survivors of the second generation more and more.

Since 1999, an Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service can be served in the museum.