Take a moment to reflect on some of the darkest moments in 20th-century history at the Dallas Holocaust Museum and Center for Education and Tolerance. The museum is dedicated to shedding light on a dark era of European history to reveal the ideologies that can cause such damage. It uses one day during the war as a microcosm for the whole story of the Holocaust, with a focus on the groups of people who resisted this horror.
Pick up an audio guide to steer you through the core exhibit of the museum. Read about three separate but important events on the day of April 19, 1943. The first section focusses on resistance fighters who managed to free over 100 prisoners from a train carrying Jewish prisoners.
The other events on that day include the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and the Bermuda Conference, a political event designed to address the events in Europe. Learn about the different forms of resistance to Hitler and the political powers who were slow to address the problem.
Several displays surrounding this thematic exploration of the day contain items from concentration camps. See cabinets showing the shoes of victims, canisters of the deadly gas Zyklon B and outfits worn by those in the camps.
Explore the space dedicated to temporary exhibitions, in order to further explore the war and its impact. Previous topics here have included the wartime photographs of Ansel Adams and the life of Anne Frank.
Pause in the Garden of Remembrance to think about what you have just seen. This small pocket of green in the parking lot features a steel sculpture surrounded by benches and was created by a 15-year-old Dallas resident.
The Dallas Holocaust Museum is open every day of the week except certain public holidays. The city’s DART system runs public transportation to the museum and car parking is available across the road. Ask the museum about their events calendar, as they regularly host talks by Holocaust survivors.
