The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh has a collection of artifacts and documents that have been in storage since it moved to its current space in Oakland more than two years ago. There just isn’t enough room there to display everything.
“We’ve been looking for space that we could unpack our artifacts, we could unpack our library and showcase was we can do educationally for several years now, we finally found the space and we anticipate being fully open by late spring,” said Joy Braunstein, director of the Holocaust Center.
The new location will be next to the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry on Hazelwood Avenue and will allow for the display of permanent and rotating exhibits.
“Everything from photographs to documents, uniforms of people who were held as prisoners in concentration camps, personal family mementos and spoils of war that U.S. troops brought back from the battlefield,” said Braunstein.
There will also be classroom space and research stations, and Braunstein said, more space for the general public.
“Students, researchers, members of the public, those seeking out family history or those who are just interested in learning about the Holocaust and its contemporary implications can come and do that research, can look at the artifacts, can interface with the educators, can explore their own personal histories,” she said.
The center has an initial five year lease, with an option to extend, but Braunstein said they won’t close their minds to other opportunities in the future. There will be parking at the facility, and it’s on a bus line. Braunstein said the new location must be opened by the end of March because the center is hosting the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum for a regional summit on Holocaust education policy. There will be a sneak preview of the new space Jan. 15.
