Even the standing room was shoulder-to-shoulder at the official launch of the redeveloped Andrew Steiner Education Centre in the Adelaide Holocaust Museum, housed inside the Adelaide Archdiocese’s Fennescey House. Source: The Southern Cross.
The centre is the first part of the museum building to reopen following 18 months of extensive upgrades that has expanded the museum’s education and exhibition space.
It features purpose-built galleries for upcoming exhibits on Jewish culture and life, the Holocaust and antisemitism.
The federal Government provided $2.5 million to support the project and the launch was attended by South Australian Governor Frances Adamson, Adelaide Archbishop Patrick O’Regan and several state government ministers and politicians.
Opening speaker, state Education Minister Blair Boyer, talked about a 10-year-old girl killed in the Bondi massacre in December and how, after some initial avoidance, he had introduced antisemitism to his daughter, who is the same age as the murdered girl and has the same name, Matilda.
It was difficult but essential to do so, Mr Boyer said.
Front and centre of the evening was 92-year-old Holocaust survivor and renowned sculptor Andrew Steiner.
The room was silent as Mr Steiner addressed his audience. He is a small man with a strong Hungarian accent and everyone strained to hear his every word.
He began by talking about how, as a child in1944, he had stood with his hands raised watching other Jews being executed.
Australia has been his home since 1948.
“I never thought the day would come in wonderful, homogenous, multicultural Australia,” he said of the recent rise in antisemitism.
“Unfortunately, this is the reality now, and more and more people are susceptible, just accepting evil slogans not really knowing what they are about,” he said.
Only a tiny minority of people are evil and that challenge can be overcome, Mr Steiner added.
“Be critical thinkers and treat everyone as you would like to be treated,” he urged the audience.
The museum offers education programs about the Holocaust, antisemitism and moral and ethical issues.
Since opening in 2020, about 3000 students have visited the museum annually. The first of three new permanent exhibitions at the museum, The Shoah, is scheduled to open to the public later this year.
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Timely reminder of antisemitism as education centre reopened (By Richard Evans,The Southern Cross)
