State Senate Democratic Leader Manfred Ohrenstein, who fled Nazi Germany as a teenager in 1938, today hailed the approval of a $50,000 Supplemental Budget appropriation he had requested for the creation of a permanent Holocaust memorial exhibit at the State Museum here. Albany legislators Senator Howard Nolan, Jr. and Assemblyman Richard Conners joined Ohrenstein in applauding the Holocaust exhibit appropriation.
Dr. Steven Windmueller, executive director of the Greater Albany Jewish Federation, said the Jewish community here “is excited about this important step proposed by Senator Ohrenstein. We’re pleased that the exhibit will have the joint support of the State of New York and of our community.” The $50,000 appropriation will provide much of the funding for the exhibit, and the remainder will come from private contributions from the Albany area coordinated by the Federation.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXHIBIT
Discussing the significance of the exhibit, Ohrenstein said: “Two generations have already grown up since the end of World War II, with no recollection of the Nazi mass murder of six million Jews and five million others. In addition revisionist ‘historians’ are claiming that the Holocaust never happened.
“Our aim is to show the grim reality of the Holocaust, through artifacts, photographs, videotapes, books and other learning materials. But in addition to the subhuman conditions of concentration camps and ghettos, we intend to portray the resistance movements and other testimonies to the survival of the human spirit. Only by remembering the past will we be able to prevent a repetition of the Holocaust against any group of people.”
The museum exhibit will enhance the new Holocaust studies program that the State Department of Education is beginning in primary and secondary schools this year, Ohrenstein noted. He added that the exhibit puts New York State on record in commemorating the Holocaust, just as the federal government is doing with the National Holocaust Memorial Council.
The Senator also commended the efforts of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and a group of New York City Holocaust survivors who are trying to set up a memorial and learning center there.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
