The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre (MHMC) has launched a campaign to encourage the donation of more artifacts, documents and photographs related to the Holocaust for preservation and exhibition.
“The MHMC is the only recognized Holocaust museum in Canada, which means that we possess a unique collection and expertise,” said communications co-ordinator Audrey Licop.
“Now, more than ever, it is crucial to record the stories of survivors and rescue evidence of the Holocaust.”
The MHMC collection currently holds over 11,600 objects. As well, it has collected more than 700 videotaped testimonies by survivors.
The types of material sought include:
• personal items, such as religious objects, jewelry, musical instruments and currency;
• personal papers, such as documents, letters, memoirs and scrapbooks;
• books, pamphlets, prints, advertisements and maps;
• historical photos or footage;
• written or recorded testimonies (sound or video);
• furnishings, architectural fragments, models, machinery and tools;
• textiles in the form of clothing, badges, armbands and flags or banners.
Items from the collection are used to illustrate many aspects of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, ranging from prewar life in Jewish communities persecuted by the Nazis to the postwar experience of survivors, including time in displaced persons camps and immigration to Canada.
These artifacts enable visitors and researchers to better understand the rise to power and crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators; life in the ghettos, in camps and in hiding, including resistance; and liberation.
The MHMC also focuses on the world’s response to the Nazi regime and the pursuit of justice through war crimes trials and restitution.
