A few weeks ago I celebrated my six years as President of the Museum. I then assumed the commitment to carry out an ambitious renovation project that included the enhancement of a historic building and the construction of an avant-garde exhibition designed for the new generations.
An extraordinary human team was formed that included members of the board of directors, professionals from various areas, and volunteers. It was a challenging process and full of learning, because the interdisciplinary nature helped us to think, debate and decide creatively, with a focus on the educational message that we had to fulfill.
All of this was possible thanks to the generous support of donors, mainly made up of families from the community, companies and the contribution of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires through the Patronage program. Two floors of the building would be used for a very important institution in the community, the Tzedaká Foundation, which has an important program to help Holocaust survivors.
In November 2017, we started a 25-month renovation, during which a lot happened.
We inaugurated “Reflections on the Shoah”, a modern and interactive exhibition that temporarily functioned at the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary and allowed us to continue with the educational work while the work was being developed and the professional and technical team in charge of thinking and carrying out the new Museum.
In October 2018, we presented the renovation project to society at the CCK with the event “A Night to Not Forget” that featured a wonderful artistic staging by Elena Roger. The following year, we transformed the exhibition “Reflections on the Shoah” into an itinerant one and we took it throughout the country accompanied by the provincial governors.
The Museum continued to function for schools, educational projects and activities were carried out, teams, projects and professionals from other survivor and family organizations were incorporated, the traveling exhibition circulated throughout the country, the renovation project was presented to society, the necessary money, an international level exhibition was built and 3000 m2 of a patrimonial building of the City were valued.
On the day of the inauguration we were proud to have representatives of all political forces, civil society leaders and leaders of the entire organized Jewish community. That image represented the epicenter of my inaugural speech, in which I stressed that the memory of the Holocaust has always been a State policy in Argentina that has had a constant and growing commitment.
The most important public of that event were the survivors, to whom we were able to show all the collective energy put at the service of the legacy they have left us, which is to transform their tragic life stories into lessons for Humanity.
In March 2020, with everything ready to receive the schools, we were surprised by the pandemic like everyone else. We closed our physical doors, but we opened the virtual ones: schools from all over the country and from all over Latin America were able to get to know the museum through the screens.
2022 was the first year that we could call normal and what was new were the more than 1,100 groups that visited us, breaking all the institution’s records and reaching some 40,000 people with our activities. This year we have been doubling the number of groups, further multiplying the educational message about the Holocaust for students, teachers, civil servants, police officers and institutional leaders.
A vibrant Museum is a dream come true and I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the people who made it possible, to all the directors, donors, professionals, technicians, volunteers and friends who were part of a great project with a phenomenal present. and a promising future.
It is thanks to the contribution of all those who made it possible that we can look the survivors in the eye and tell them that the mission has not been accomplished, but that without a doubt and in the best way, it is being accomplished.
President of the Holocaust Museum of Argentina.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
