Daniel Amar, the former executive director of the Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec, is the new professional head of the Montreal Holocaust Museum (MHM).

He succeeds Alice Herscovitch, who retired as the MHM’s executive director after 11 years.

Amar began his career in the Sephardic community more than 30 years ago and went on to become a political attaché and then the chief of staff to two Quebec cabinet ministers and economic adviser to Premier Bernard Landry.

He also served as the Quebec director of the Canada-Israel Committee and the Canadian Jewish Congress.

In the private sector, Amar worked in the financial sector and served on numerous boards of directors.

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“We welcome Daniel’s unique skill set and visionary leadership as we head into a new stage of development,” stated MHM Dorothy Zalcman Howard.

“Daniel possesses the strategic expertise, interpersonal skills and passionate commitment to the museum’s mission needed to further its growth,” added Daniel Rabinowicz, the museum’s immediate past president and chair of the selection committee.

Amar’s appointment comes at a time of continuing growth for the MHM, which has seen an annual increase in visitors for the past 15 years in a row.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I join the team of the MHM, an institution that plays a unique role in Montreal, Quebec and Canada. I intend to continue the work done in recent years to make this museum one of the signatures of Montreal,” said Amar.

The MHM, a Federation CJA agency, has been in the midst of planning a move downtown into a vastly bigger space, after 40 years in Cummings House. Preliminary plans estimate the cost of the project at upwards of $45 million.