About
Founded in 1984, The Zekelman Holocaust Center is a dynamic institution in Farmington Hills, Michigan, that features a newly renovated Holocaust museum, research and library archive, special exhibit galleries, educational workshops, and public programming.Â
Keeping the Stories of the Holocaust Alive
Founded in 1984, The Zekelman Holocaust Center (The HC) first opened its doors on the campus of the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield as the Holocaust Memorial Center and relocated to the current award-winning Farmington Hills building in 2004. The HC is home to not only our core Holocaust museum exhibit, but an extensive research library, archives, and special exhibit galleries.
As The HC continues to grow, so do our educational outreach efforts. Each year, we reach more than 150,000 people through our teacher training workshops, virtual museum experiences, public programs, and visits to the museum.
Our mission is to engage, educate, and empower by remembering the Holocaust.
Our Values
Today, not only is there a rise in antisemitism, but a decline in living testimony as we approach a time when Holocaust survivors are no longer with us. The HC’s content focuses on Holocaust victims’ and survivors’ personal stories to help our visitors understand how the Holocaust could have happened. We invite each of you to visit and hope through your experience you gain tools to stand up to hatred and antisemitism wherever they arise.
Together, we honor the following values to create a more tolerant and empathetic society.
Preserving & Transmitting Holocaust Memory
We ensure that the history of the Holocaust is preserved for and transmitted to future generations, along with the memories of victims, survivors, and their families.
Pursuing Collaboration for the Benefit of Our Mission
We work with partners and share expertise while honoring our independence.
Actively Engaging Our Communities
We strive to meet community needs while expanding and challenging perspectives through timely, relevant programming.
Creating an Environment of Learning & Development
We innovate and create tailored experiences for people of all backgrounds to encounter new ideas and gain knowledge.
Teaching & Leading With Compassion
We are guided by an ethos of respect and compassion in all of our actions, and we encourage this spirit in others. Â
Empowering People to Fight Hatred & Antisemitism
We drive positive societal change by inspiring people to choose values such as civility, tolerance, ethical leadership, and cultural awareness.
Definition of the Holocaust
The Holocaust was the systematic, government-run persecution and murder of Europe’s Jews from 1933 to 1945. Using a variety of methods, Nazi Germany, its allies, and collaborators killed some six million Jews — around two-thirds of all European Jews. Antisemitism, the hatred of or prejudice against Jews, was widespread in Europe and was a foundational principle of Nazi ideology. We must recognize the dignity and humanity of the victims of the Holocaust, so as not to perpetuate the dehumanization and hate that allowed it to happen. Its lessons help us fight injustice today.
Definition of a Holocaust Survivor
We honor as a survivor any person who was displaced, persecuted, or discriminated against by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. In addition to former inmates of concentration camps, ghettos, and prisons, this definition includes, among others, people who were refugees or were in hiding.
Definition of Antisemitism
We have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, including all its examples. This definition will guide The HC’s activities throughout the development, education, curation, marketing, and events teams.