Behind the creation of a permanent Holocaust exhibition

JORDAN MOSHE

We need to learn from history and ensure that it is never repeated, and the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre (JHGC) has committed itself to making sure that “never again” means just that.

Speaking at the centre’s official opening on 14 March, director and founder Tali Nates stressed the role of education to which the centre is committed. “Never again has happened again and again, and we need to stop it,” she said. “This is the core of our goal here. Human beings committed these atrocious acts, and human beings are the ones who should stop it from happening again.”

Leading a tour of the centre’s new permanent exhibition, Nates welcomed special guests Veronica Phillips and Sylvestre Sendacyeye, survivors of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, respectively, as well as the international human rights activist Father Patrick Desbois. Also present were the curators of the exhibition, Lauren Segal and Clive van den Berg, two specialists who helped to make Nates’ vision of a world-class exhibition a reality.

Nates, the daughter of Holocaust survivor Moses Turner, explained that the centre is no museum, but a space for reflection and learning from the past.

“I did not want to create a museum,” she said. “You visit a museum, leave it and maybe tell someone to go there, but you don’t interact. I wanted a space for dialogue, education and memory. We need to talk about other issues, beyond our context, as our entry point to talk about our own history, learning from those histories for ourselves.”

Nates stressed that the JHGC, unlike most similar centres, uses a multi-level approach to tackle this task. Instead of sharing only the testimonies of victims, the centre also includes those of the perpetrators to gain an understanding of what causes genocide. This could aid, hopefully, in preventing its recurrence.

The centre is also unique in its movement away from dark, intimate spaces, and puts light to effective use for educational purposes. “Usually, museums of genocide are in darkness,” said Nates. “We use large windows and harness the natural light throughout to show that genocide doesn’t happen in darkness but in broad daylight, while the neighbours are watching.

“We invite visitors to reflect on what is going on today, to apply what they learn here to other crimes being committed out there right now.”

Spanning across more than 420m² floor space, the exhibition explores the history of genocide through the 20th century, beginning with the coining of the term in 1944 in relation to the Holocaust, and moving through to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

Using 13 thematic spaces reflected in interconnecting displays, the exhibition showcases extensive research, tireless effort, and exceptional architectural planning. The tragic history of the phenomenon is traced in detail, and its story told using multi-layered displays that include interactive panels, artefacts, testimonies, films, photographs and even art.

“There is always a relation between the content you see immediately and the background behind it,” said Van den Berg. “You never see something here in isolation. As the exhibition unfolds, one can see that we have calculated the viewer experience to see one thing, and then another and more behind it. There is an implication of time in the way we have chosen to represent the past.”

Moving through the exhibition, Nates explained that a driving perspective throughout the exhibition is to see the events that unfolded not for victims, but for human beings. “We wanted people to see these people from before they become victims. They were poor, rich, educated, or illiterate. They were a part of humanity. Through photographs, testimonies and artefacts we want to tell stories of lives, not just the experience of a victim. There are connections throughout.”

Starting at World War II, the exhibition wends its way through the 20th century across various geographical locations. From Lithuania to Johannesburg, every locale and its part in the narrative is featured, and the lives of those who lived there made tangible. The historical development of the Holocaust leads visitors through to the onset of the Rwandan genocide in 1994 in a similarly unique display, concluding with the Garden of Reflection in which one can absorb the experience and make it relevant to everyday life beyond the centre’s walls.

“We want visitors to think about how they relate to objects around them,” said Van den Berg. “Do you bend down to see something, or do you look up? There is a reason things have been presented the way they have. The world that was, the past and then the present, are all made real and engaged with at different levels at every point here. We can foster a special connection within the space, one that will have a special impact.”

Although it already receives about 14 000 visitors per year, the centre is certainly set to welcome hundreds more. Fully funded by donations, it charges no admission fee.

The centre also offers a full programme of events, films, plays, lectures and more, and offers training to schools, educators, corporates and non-governmental organisations in grappling with the issues it highlights.