Permanent Exhibition: A Reason to Remember

This permanent teaching exhibition, "A Reason to Remember: Roth, Germany 1933-1942," is based on the personal stories of five Jewish families who lived in the small village of Roth, Germany between 1933 and 1942. Their stories are linked to the political and historical events of the Holocaust. With powerful displays of images, narrative, survivors' voices, and artifacts, these five families’ stories tell the larger history of the Holocaust and why we should remember it today.

The demise of this tiny Jewish community is chronicled in detail, using primary source materials such as photographs, documents, and artifacts, as well as eyewitness testimonies. The exhibit illustrates how the relations between these families and their neighbors were systematically dismantled.

Visitors are engaged in a personal, intimate, and emotional way with the lives of Roth’s former Jewish residents and become well acquainted with the men, women, and children of the village. Visitors are also challenged by what they see in this exhibit to think critically about the choices they make when they are called upon to respond to prejudice or any other type of injustice.

The exhibit is open to UMass students and the general public, but appointments must be made. School groups are also welcome to visit and tour with a docent, by previously scheduled appointment. Please contact us for information about scheduling tours and programs based on the permanent exhibition for high school and middle school students. Since the opening in April 2011, the Institute's permanent teaching exhibition has been visited by over 6,000 middle school, high school, and college students from 30 different schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Please contact us at ihgms@umass.edu to inquire about scheduling a visit.