National Holocaust Museum, Amsterdam
The National Holocaust Museum is dedicated to recounting the story of the Holocaust. The museum is housed within two historic buildings. One is a former theatre that played a significant role in the deportation of Jews during the occupation. The other is a former school which played a role in the rescue of many children. Standing in the exact location where many of the stories occurred gives visitors a sense of space and brings home the enormity of the atrocities committed.
Core to the narrative is the re-humanization of the story of the Holocaust. Showing that the cold statistics of the Holocaust are about individuals and that these individuals all had their own stories.
Three photo’s unknown Shoah victims in a folder with the words ‘Don’t forget us!’ That was our assignment. How can we expose the system of dehumanization and humanize the victims of the Shoah? From the very beginning, those were the principles guiding all design choices. It was essential to bring these stories close to the visitor to help them understand that each individual was, first and foremost, a human being just like the visitor.
The wallpaper of crimes and the forget-me-nots are examples of this. The wallpaper of crimes displays all the laws and regulations of the Nazis in the Netherlands targeted against Jews. In that colorless world of exclusion, we placed the forget-me-nots. A warm tribute to the victims. Together with the museum, we paid a lot of attention to the stories of these individuals.
OPERA Amsterdam (spatial designer) and Studio Louter (content design), together with the museum, have developed the concept and design of the exhibition.
Photography: Mike Bink, Thijs Wolzak, OPERA Amsterdam