Holocaust and genocide museum to open in Jozi
04 September 2015
The construction of the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre (JHGC), on land leased to it by the City of Johannesburg, is nearing completion and is on course to open its doors to the public early next year.
Described by founder and director Tali Nates as “a space of memory, of education and a place where the lessons of humanity can be learned from the darkest parts of our history”, the museum was put in the public eye at a ceremony held earlier this week.
Nates said the centre stood as a memorial for the six million Jews killed in the holocaust as well as more than 800 000 victims of the Rwandan genocide.
The occasion attracted scores of holocaust and genocide victims and their families.
Speaking at the ceremony, Professor Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State and Patron of the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation, said the establishment of the museum had come at an important time in South Africa.
“Never before has the question of memory and memorials become so contentious in South Africa – on campuses and in the broader society. The establishment of the centre in Johannesburg could not have come at a better time since it offers a powerful educational rationale for remembering in the wake of tragedy.
“The centre will help keep in the mind of the public the dangers of supremacy in thinking. Only through education can we prevent people turning on one another. This museum brings another important space for memory and education to Johannesburg and it’s an experience every South African should have. There is nothing more dangerous than uneducated activism. This centre gives the community the opportunity to reconcile rival memories and recognise other people’s pain,” said Prof Jansen.
The museum is situated on the corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Duncombe Road in Forest Town. This where the Bernberg Museum of Costume was located before it was mopved to Museum Africa.
Nates said the City of Johannesburg and its property arm, the Johannesburg Property Company, had helped to “realise this dream and turn it into a reality”.
“By remembering the holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda we project a warning to future generations. We always say never again but that’s only until the next time.
There cannot be a next time,” said Nates.
As part of the ceremony, Holocaust survivor Veronica Phillips and Bonaventure Kageruka, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, handed over personal and family artefacts to Nates to be included in the museum’s collection.
Phillips donated her childhood doll while Kageruka presented items belonging to his friend, Xavier – a front door key and a rosary found in the hands of Xavier’s mother after she was murdered by Hutus.
JHGC Project Manager Lewis Levin said the architectural characteristics and approaches used included functional and symbolic elements.
“We discussed the project with survivors of both the holocaust and Rwandan genocide to assist us with some tools of association for the building,” Levin said.
The centre will also feature the art of brave children in the Terezin concentration camp near Prague.
”These children produced beautiful drawings, paintings and poems, sometimes hours before they were murdered and represent bleak circumstances yet comprise vivid, rich colour, full of optimism. We want the messages of these children to reach South Africa’s children. Art can be used to find meaning in suffering and transform your oppression into a call to action,” said Levin.