A proposal to establish a permanent Holocaust memorial exhibit at the State Museum here was issued by New York State Senate Democratic Leader Manfred Ohrenstein. The proposal was supported by Senator Howard Nolan, Jr., and Assemblyman Richard Conners, both of Albany.
The exhibit is to include artifacts, photographs, videotapes, books, pamphlets and other learning materials that document “the subhuman conditions of Nazi concentration camps and ghettos, as well as the resistance movements and the survival of the human spirit,” Ohrenstein said.
“Our goals are two-fold,” the Senator from Manhattan stated. “First, we need a permanent setting in New York State to remind our citizens of the worst chapter of human history, when six million Jews and five million other innocent victims were systematically murdered by the Nazis. After 30 years of denial and neglect, interest in the Holocaust has reached a high level of public awareness.”
A United States Holocaust Memorial Council has been appointed by the President to establish a permanent memorial museum in the Mall area of Washington, D.C., and the Office of Special Investigations of the U.S. Justice Depar is actively seeking out and attempting to deport Nazi war criminals living in this country, Ohrenstein said.
“The lesson of the Nazi genocide and mass murder is that we must remain ever on guard against all forms of racism and fascism, so that a repetition of the Holocaust can never again be directed against any group of people,” the Senator said. “Albany is the ideal location for a Holocaust memorial exhibit, because it is the capital of the state with the largest number of concentration camp survivors in this country.”
The second goal, he continued, “will be to enhance the new Holocaust studies program that the State Education Department is beginning in our primary and secondary schools this year. This exhibit will go hand in hand with school studies. Children will receive valuable reinforcement experience from seeing actual concentration camp uniforms, yellow stars (of David) photographs, letters, and films.”
The exhibit is expected to change periodically as research provides more information, enabling shifts in emphasis. A supplemental budget appropriation of $50,000 would provide most of the funding for the exhibit, which will have expenses that include design items, resources and personnel. The remainder will come from private contributions from the Albany area, Ohrenstein said.
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