The yellow Star of David forcibly pinned to the clothing of persecuted Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe is among the tragic artefacts to be showcased in Adelaide’s first Holocaust museum from next month.
The Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Andrew Steiner Education Centre will be the third facility to open in Australia dedicated to remembering six million Holocaust victims.
The not-for-profit museum is set to expand following a $2.5m federal grant.
Its opening on November 9 will be an emotional challenge for Mr Steiner, a renowned Adelaide Hills artist, who recalls that failing to wear the yellow star in Budapest was fatal.
He was an 11-year-old Jew living in Hungary in 1944 when lined up for execution and labelled a “dirty Jew”.
Mr Steiner saw his parents and other family members forced into labour camps and military units.
“I will be extraordinarily elated and thoroughly humbled,” said Mr Steiner, when the museum finally opens its doors to the public.
The 87-year-old has spent the past three decades teaching Holocaust history to tens of thousands of South Australians.
He said the museum and education centre – a decade-long dream – would become “a beacon of light” in SA.
“The idea is to showcase the possibility of how to be caring, decent human beings through the examples of those who risked their own lives, and their family’s, to assist Jews when much of the world had turned a blind eye to their mass persecution,” he said.
Read the article by Rebecca Di Girolamo in The Advertiser.