April - October 2023

Halt! Remembering the Holocaust Artwork by G. Roy Levin

While serving on the faculty of Goddard College in 1980, G. Roy Levin received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities which resulted in a book containing interviews with documentary filmmakers. Through this research, he came upon the documentary Shoah directed by Claude Lanzmann. He began to create artwork based on images from the film using various mediums. Levin started with paintings in color using discarded fruit and vegetable crates with wire and unframed canvases. He eventually switched to black and white photographs on boxes, reminiscent of the railroad cars that carried passengers to the concentration camps. The light in his paintings has a shimmering quality so that remembering becomes an “act of empathy and compassion for the unspeakable pain that was endured by so many.” Levin wanted his paintings to not necessarily show what the Holocaust was like, but to stimulate the viewer’s imagination to think about what it was like.

Jan. 9 - March 32, 2023

Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman

Born in Poland in 1924, Faye Schulman received her first camera from her brother when she was 13. That camera ultimately saved her life and allowed her to document Jewish partisan activity later. As a result, she is one of the only known Jewish partisan photographers. Schulman's rare collection of images captures the camaraderie, horror, loss, bravery, and triumph of the rag-tag, resilient partisans—some Jewish, some not—who fought the Germans and their collaborators. Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photography of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman, a compelling traveling exhibition produced by the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation (JPEF) and curated by Jill Vexler, Ph. D, poses probing questions about this incredible woman and the people whose images she documented.

July 18 - December 30, 2022

There's Just Us

August 11 and 12, 2022, marks the five-year anniversary of the Unite the Right rally that shook the quiet, central Virginia city of Charlottesville. The Virginia Holocaust Museum is honored and privileged to exhibit There’s Just Us, a photo series by Alec R. Hosterman who was there to document the protests over that weekend. There’s Just Us represents the struggle Hosterman saw when communities fight hate and bigotry; of the collective voices that were brave enough to stand up against all odds. It aims to remind us that we are never alone in the struggle for diversity and inclusion. Together, we can remember those voices who were silenced all too soon and make this world a better place to live.

April - June 2022

All That Remains: A Holocaust Exhibit in Fiber

Created by award-winning mixed media and textile artist Leslie J. Klein, the exhibit consisted of conceptual art clothing, wall hangings, drawings, soft sculptures, and installation pieces. The exhibit addressed the historical events of the Holocaust in layers of meaning and imagery with the juxtaposition of fabric and design.

Nov. 2021 - March 2022

Humility: Works by Molly Robinson

As a high school student, Molly Robinson was urged by her art teacher to make art motivated by deep self-reflection. After seeing examples of social conflict during trips to Kenya, Tanzania, and Togo, Robinson was inspired to create pieces that explored the impact of human rights violations on personal identity. The result of this endeavor was Humility, a collection of bright, mixed-media works that reflect her personal inquires on human rights, social justice and conflict.

August 4 - October 24, 2021

Violins of Hope

Violins of Hope is a touring exhibition dedicated to initiating deeper, more meaningful conversations about tolerance and social justice while educating people about the horrors of the Holocaust. This is the first time that the exhibit has been in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. As a part of this effort, the VMHC is displaying seven violins from a collection of more than 60 that survived the Holocaust and have been restored by violin maker Amnon Weinstein and his son, Avshalom, in Tel Aviv since the end of World War II. An Israeli violin shop owner and master craftsman, Amnon lost 400 family members in the Holocaust and became determined to reclaim his lost heritage by locating and restoring violins played by Jewish musicians during this period. He calls these instruments the Violins of Hope.

May 1 - December 30, 2019

State of Deception

The exhibition reveals how shortly after World War I, the Nazi Party began to transform itself from an obscure, extremist group into the largest political party in democratic Germany. Hitler early on recognized how propaganda, combined with the use of terror, could help his radical party gain mass support and votes. He personally adapted the ancient symbol of the swastika and the emotive colors of red, black, and white to create the movement’s flag. In doing so, Hitler established a potent visual identity that has branded the Nazi Party ever since.

April 2019

Tragedy of War: Japanese American Internment

During World War II 120,000 ethnic Japanese on the west coast, two-thirds of them American citizens, were forced into a series of camps to live under armed guard. Japanese-American confinement was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and supported by Congress and the Supreme Court. Authorities feared that Japanese residents were disloyal and might aid in a Japanese invasion of the United States. Japanese Americans contested these charges throughout the war and later sought formal redress. In 1983, a bipartisan congressional committee concluded that confinement was based on war hysteria, failure of government and military leadership, and racism against those of Japanese ancestry. “The Tragedy of War” revisits the injustice of Japanese-American confinement by telling their stories and asking a question that resonates today: At what point should the rights of citizens be limited or denied to ensure our nation is secure?

Nov. 2018 - March 2019

Blood is the Same

Awer Bul arrived in Virginia as a refugee of the civil war in Sudan. In 2007, he won a grant while studying at Virginia Commonwealth University to return to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya to conduct art workshops for children who lived there. "Blood is the Same" features the work of six different artists who taught alongside Awer.

Sept. 28, 2018 - Feb. 24, 2019

Break Glass: The Art of V.L. Cox – A Conversation to End Hate

Through her art, Cox aspires to spark conversation about civil rights and equality, while also exploring the persistence of hate and injustice in America today. Her work is often born in cathartic response to contemporary events and shaped from her own personal experiences growing up in Arkansas. “Personal conversations, with respect to one another, need to be had before we can move forward together,” Cox said. “There used to be a time when people could agree to disagree with civility, yet still have things in common. We need to find that place again.” This exhibition was organized by the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts at Longwood University.

June 1–July 29, 2018

Faces of Survival

Some were hidden children, concealing their Jewish identity. Some were infants and toddlers whose families were forced to flee their homes. They came from all corners of Eastern and Western Europe. All had the normalcy of their childhoods replaced by fear, and often the horror of witnessing death and losing loved ones to senseless brutality. All of them made new homes in the United States. These are the Survivors remaining in Hampton Roads.

February 9–March 27, 2018

The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors

In 2017 Switzerland assumed the chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. As part of their chairmanship, they developed a powerful portrait exhibition on the last Swiss Holocaust survivors. These survivors were not often Swiss citizens, but rather came to the country seeking refuge from other countries in Europe. Some arrived during the war, but most came after WWII, having escaped, survived in hiding, or endured concentration camps. The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors tells the stories of these Swiss survivors before, during, and after the Holocaust.

February, 1–September 18, 2017

Margot Blank Paintings

A selection of artwork from artist and Holocaust survivor Margot Blank will be on display at the VHM. Blank, originally from Germany, was deported to two camps in France before escaping with the help of resistance groups. She spent the remainder of the war helping children who had been rescued by the Oeuvre de Secours Aux Enfants, a children’s aid society. After the war, Blank moved to the States where she studied art. She later moved to Richmond with her husband and became involved in the local art scene. Blank’s work—which includes paintings, sketches, photography, and mixed media pieces—uses bright, vibrant colors to depict her life in the States. Her portraits and landscapes reflect everyday moments of her life after the Holocaust.

June, 6–October 2, 2016

Deadly Medicine

Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race provokes reflection on the continuing attraction of biological utopias that promote the possibility of human perfection. From the early 20th-century international eugenics movements to present-day dreams of eliminating inherited disabilities through genetic manipulation, the issues remain timely.

April 2015–April 2016

Auschwitz/Oswiecim

Auschwitz/Oswiecim was a temporary exhibit produced by the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Designed as a commemoration to local survivors who endured this notorious camp, it serves to the illustrate its significance within Nazi ideology.

September 2015–December 2015

Survivor Portraits

The Virginia Holocaust Museum is displaying the Weinstein JCC photographic exhibit “The Holocaust Survivors Photo Project.” The exhibition consists of 26 large-scale portraits by photographer Dean Whitbeck of survivors who are currently living in Richmond, Virginia.

August 2014–October 2014

Perpetrators

In his Perpetrators, Sid Chafetz, an artist and master printmaker who has dedicated his professional career to creating works of art of profound social significance, presents a series of portraits of what might be called "ordinary" who executed Hitler's ghoulish plans.

May 2014

The Trial of Adolf Eichmann

A retrospective exhibit on the trial of Adolf Eichmann.

January 2014–February 2014

Paintings of Margot Dreyfuss Blank

The Virginia Holocaust Museum will host a premier exhibition of paintings by the late, local German-American Artist Margot Dreyfuss Blank in the Melvin Weinstein Gallery.

October 2013–December 2013

Women of Ravensbruck

RavensbrĂĽck, the Nazi's major concentration camp for women, brought fear and terror to its imprisoned, tortured victims. Subject to unspeakable horrors, few survived.

August 2013

G. Roy Levin

The Virginia Holocaust Museum is pleased to announce the showing of its first traveling exhibit featuring the Holocaust-themed art of G. Roy Levin.

May 2013–July 2013

Illuminations: The Art of Samuel Bak

Illuminations: The Art of Samuel Bak features twenty original works by renowned artist and Holocaust survivor Samuel Bak. The exhibit includes a recorded audio tour with commentaries by professor Lawrence L. Langer.

July 1, 2012

Das Gesichht Des Gettos (The Face of the Ghetto)

The Face of the Ghetto is traveling exhibit containing photos from the Lodz ghetto by Jewish and Nazi photographers.

April 22, 2012

Lessons From Rwanda Traveling Exhibit

Lessons from Rwanda is a traveling exhibt detailing the genocide of Rwanda and the issues surrounding the crime of genocide.

November 6, 2011

The Ongoing Armenian Genocide

The Ongoing Armenian Genocide is a traveling exhibit from the Armenian Library and Museum of America which depicts the methodically planned annihilation of Armenians in Turkey during World War I and Turkish denial of said atrocities

November 6–December 30, 2011

Lives Remembered

Lives Remembered is a temporary exhibit showcasing photographs of ordinary Jewish life in a small town in Poland, from 1897-1939

April 1–30, 2011

A Portait of Panzi

As a part of Genocide Prevention Month, The Virginia Holocaust Museum partnered with the Panzi Foundation to present an exhibit called Peace Should Not Be This Fragile—A Portrait of Panzi. It features the work of sculptor Peter Frantz and local area students

October 3–November 12, 2010

Diplomats of Mercy

Diplomats of Mercy was a temporary exhibit on the diplomats from various nations who acted selflessly to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

April 18, 2010

Portraits of War: The Democratic Republic of the Congo Opening

A new exhibit of photography was opened. This exhibit featured life size photographs and essays about Congolese women and their experience.

August 10-October 15, 2008

Story of Gross Breesen

A temporary photography exhibit as well as a reunion of the Hyde Farmlanders on August 10

March 2008

Art and Propganda in Nazi-Occupied Holland

The Virginia Holocaust Museum hosted the Anee Frank’s Center Traveling Exhibit, Art and Propoganda in Nazi- Occupied Holland. This includes Sketches from Buchenwald, a series of lithographs recounting the camp experience of Dutch artist and concentration camp survivor Henri Pieck.

March 9- April 21, 2006

Torchbearer of Freedom

A temporary exhibit that tells the story of with Dame Mary Sigillo Barraco, an American Freedom Fighter during World War II; she served in the Belgian and French Resistance and captured imprisonment by the Nazis.

June 6, 2005

G. Roy Levin Temporary Art Exhibit

A temporary exhibit displaying the Holocaust art of G. Roy Levin was on display at the Virginia Holocaust Museum until December 31, 2005.