Stories & Exhibits

The Diary of Rywka Lipszyc

Originally published by the JFCS Holocaust Center in partnership with Lehrhaus Judaica, the newly edited and revised edition of Rywka’s Diary has now been published by Harper Collins in the U.S. The book has also been translated and published in many other countries. See the press reviews about Rywka’s Diary.

The newly discovered diary, written in the Lodz ghetto during World War II, is an astonishing historical document and a moving tribute to the many ordinary people whose lives where forever altered by the Holocaust. Accompanied by rich background materials, the book is destined to become an important source of inspiration for students of the Holocaust around the world.

The Steyer Family Collection: A Story of Love and Resilience

In 1943, Diana Kintzel married Stanley Steyer, both using false identity papers on the Aryan side of Warsaw.  Despite their risky, interfaith marriage, and the dangers they endured trying to rescue other Jews from deportation, both Diana and Stanley survived.

This exhibit is a collection of documents and photographs that belonged to Stanley and Diana and document their story.  It is generously funded by their daughter, Helen Sarah Steyer.

Exodus: Flight from Nazi Germany

After the Nazi rise to power in Germany in 1933, Jewish citizens found themselves in peril. Assimilated into German society and in some cases from families that had lived in Germany for centuries, German Jews were confronted with hostility, prejudice, and persecution.

On November 8, 1938, a nationwide pogrom – Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) – provided unshakeable evidence that Jewish property and lives were in danger. This exhibit traces the path of German and Austrian Jews as they fled Nazi Germany in 1938 looking for safety and shelter.