Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education

Mission

The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE) explores the legacy of the Jewish experience in Oregon, teaches the enduring and universal relevance of the Holocaust, and provides opportunities for intercultural conversations.

Bottom Line for Portland

OJMCHE and the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, provide space for the community to discuss complex topics and respectfully explore various perspectives within our diverse audiences. We educate visitors about the Holocaust and other genocides, connect the Jewish experience to larger issues of diversity and discrimination against religious, ethnic, and cultural minorities, and provide tools to study the past as a way to understand the present and to explore the future. In June 2023 the museum debuted its expanded galleries and a new core exhibition Human Rights After the Holocaust, that enhances OJMCHE’s power to accomplish its mission “to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust,” by including today’s experience of hate, racism, discrimination, and persecution. 

Quote

“My first year taking students to the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, I had a pretty rambunctious group. And I have never heard them listen so carefully. It's actually one of my favorite things about the memorial tour is that it's about the Holocaust but it's also about the survivors and the choices they made in building the memorial in the way they did. I remember at the end of our tour, one of my students just kind of dropped to his knees in front of the large stone that serves as an unmarked grave—it’s where the soil from the six concentration camps is buried. And he just dropped to his knees and was crying.” — Aly Ferris, Teacher, Sauvie Island School

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

OJMCHE teaches visitors how to recognize the roots of hatred, how to instill values of inclusion and respect, and how to participate in a vibrant democracy built on understanding and reconciling differences. Jewish history involves critical consideration of the ways oppression has manifested throughout history and responsible stewardship of this history means working against oppression today. We believe in the transformational power of inclusive storytelling that opens interaction with our audiences, inviting them to respond in ways that promote and provoke conversation.

Incentives

Gifts of any size will get two museum guest passes. OJMCHE board member Ruth Roth is going to match the first $5000 raised and there will be additional match opportunities as well. Watch for special giving days to be entered to win a gift basket from OJMCHE’s Ron Tonkin Family Museum Shop.

Partner(s)

Cultural Partner

Lan Su Gardens

Opening in September 2000, Lan Su Chinese Garden is one of Portland's greatest treasures and most interesting sites to see while visiting Portland. A result of a collaboration between the cities of Portland and Suzhou, our sister city in China's Jiangsu province that's famous for its beautiful Ming dynasty gardens, Lan Su was built by Chinese artisans from Suzhou and is one of the most authentic Chinese gardens outside of China.