The Holocaust Museum

The Virginia Holocaust Museum was established in 1997 in Richmond.  Its goal was to create a historically accurate portrayal of the Holocaust. It is located on 2000 E Cary Street, Richmond VA 23223.  One of the founding members of this museum was an actual Holocaust survivor, Jay Ipson. The original museum was only five rooms in what was the former Brown Education Building.  In 2003 it was relocated to Shockoe Bottom, right by the walls in an old tobacco warehouse.

The site is historic because it is in the old building of the American Tobacco Company. Tobacco has played a big role in the history of Virginia, it was the crop which kept settlers in the area.was the product that built the colony of Virginia.  The American Tobacco Company was important in history, because it was one of the original twelve members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896.

The Virginia Holocaust Museum building is not the only historic feature of this site, the contents of the Holocaust Museum have many stories to tell.  The building is full of actual artifacts from the Holocaust. The details packed into this museum are truly amazing, nothing is left out; from Jewish life in Germany, to the railroad car out front.  This museum has actual history inside, as well as the building being historic.

Our Group visited the Holocaust Museum on February 23, 2014.  It was a truly fascinating experience.  The museum does all it can to inform people of what a tragedy the Holocaust was.  It didn’t only do that, but it showed what actually happened, it was better than reading textbooks, it was a firsthand experience.  

The only problem with this museum, is the topic.  It is a fantastic museum and is well curated.  The Holocaust was one of the biggest tragedies of the twentieth century, and the museum is hard to take in.  While touring this museum we all became very quiet and kind of depressed. However even though it's a heavy subject matter, it is worth the visit. The Virginia Holocaust Museum is definitely one of the top ten historic places to check out in Richmond, Virginia, because of its quality and experience.