After two years of construction, Holocaust Museum Houston, Lester and Sue Smith Campus reopened its expanded $34 million campus at 5401 Caroline Street. In becoming one of the top Holocaust museums in the country, the organization has broadened its mission as a superregional hub for Holocaust education and a national voice for human rights and social justice.
More than doubling in size to a total of 57,000 square feet, the new facility ranks as the nation's fourth largest Holocaust museum and is fully bilingual in English and Spanish. The new three-story structure houses a welcome center, four permanent galleries and two changing exhibition galleries, classrooms, a research library, a café, a 200-seat indoor theater and a 175-seat outdoor amphitheater. With more than 50 screens, mini-theaters and interactive terminals are featured throughout the Museum.
The permanent Holocaust exhibit includes such rare artifacts as a fishing boat like those used by Danish fishermen to ferry Jewish neighbors to neutral territory under cover of night, as well as a World War II-era railcar like the ones that transported Jews to concentration camps and killing centers.
The Human Rights Gallery features educational displays of all genocides recognized by the United Nations as well as tributes to international human rights leaders, including Malala Yousafzai and Martin Luther King Jr., among others. The museum debuted the nation's largest gallery of artwork by the Holocaust survivor and painter Samuel Bak, with more than 130 works in exhibition rotation.
Finally, an interactive media display brings to life the writings of 12 young diarists, including Anne Frank, who died in genocides around the world. The Diaries Gallery is the only one of its kind in the United States.
The Museum has two touring exhibitions. On view through Sept. 15, 2019, in the Mincberg Gallery, is
Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann, a co-production of The Mossad – Israeli Secret Intelligence Service; Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv, Israel; and the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Cleveland, Ohio. The Museum’s smaller Central Gallery features
Points of View, a national photography exhibition from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights that is on view through Oct. 6, 2019.
Admission is free for children and students, including college students with a valid college ID $15 for adults; and $10 for seniors and AARP members. Admission is free for active military members through Labor Day, as part of the Blue Star Museums program. As a member of the Houston Museum District Association, the museum waives admission from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. each Thursday.
Click here to purchase tickets.
The museum’s hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
For more details and to purchase advance timed tickets, visit hmh.org.