Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum

In 1977, 125 Dallas-based Jewish Holocaust survivors, led by Michael Jacobs met and formed an organization called Holocaust Survivors in Dallas. In 1984, the survivors, along with North Texas benefactors, established The Dallas Memorial Center for Holocaust Studies. The center was located in the Dallas Jewish Community Center in North Dallas. In January 2005, the Memorial Center changed its name to the Dallas Holocaust Museum Center for Education and Tolerance and moved to a transitional space in downtown Dallas. The Museum is now in a 55,000-square-foot permanent location at the former Kingman-Texas Building in Dallas' historic West End. The DHHRM is part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, launched in 2021 by the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. == Permanent Exhibition ==

The Museum's permanent exhibition consists of four wings designed by Berenbaum Jacobs Associates—Orientation Wing, Holocaust / Shoah Wing, Human Rights Wing, and Pivot to America Wing. Holocaust / Shoah Wing This wing explores the history of the Holocaust. Highlights include 68 local Survivor testimonies, 9 original films, a geographic approach to the material, and a focus on Upstanders across Europe. Visitors may also walk through an authentic Nazi-era rail car, the first ever displayed in a museum anywhere in the world. Human Rights Wing In the Human Rights Wing, the exhibition focuses on advances in the global approach to human rights—starting with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides aspirational guidance to people and nations. This wing explores the importance of the Nuremberg Trials for representational justice after World War II and the Holocaust. Also here is the Ten Stages of Genocide Gallery which contains 10 floor-to-ceiling islands, each representing an historical genocide, including the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis, the Guatemalan genocide, and the Holodomor in Ukraine. Pivot to America Wing The Pivot to America Wing challenges visitors to "Embrace Ideals. Challenge Reality. Participate in Repair." This wing addresses the American experience, American ideals, American reality, and the repair process by which the country strives to bring its ideals and reality more closely into accord. Visitors explore the development of civil and human rights throughout the country's history via interactive kiosks, and they learn about Upstanders, from Texas and beyond, who have driven the process of repair in America. == Dimensions in Testimony Theater ==

The Museum features a permanent interactive exhibition called Dimensions in Testimony, implemented by the USC Shoah Foundation. The Dimensions in Testimony Theater uses 3D holographic technology and artificial intelligence to present genocide survivors answering questions about their experiences long after they are gone. Visitors can interact with Survivors as if they are in the room with them. Max Glauben, one of the original founders of the Museum, was filmed by the USC Shoah Foundation in 2018 using a 360-degree, 18-camera and green screen setup. Glauben, who survived the Warsaw Ghetto as a child and was orphaned at 13 while in the Budzyn Labor Camp, was asked more than 1,000 questions about his life for his holographic projection. He is one of the featured Holocaust survivors with whom visitors interact in the Dimensions in Testimony Theater. == Design and Architecture ==

The Museum was designed from the inside out with the help of Dr. Michael Berenbaum, former project director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. OMNIPLAN was the architect, Texas based Datum Engineers, Inc. were the structural engineering team and Seattle-based Pacific Studio fabricated and assembled the core exhibition components. Half of this number are anticipated to be students. ==See also==