Description: Hours: M-F, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Sa-Su, 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Phone: 713/942-8000
Website: www.hmh.org
Admission: FREE (donations requested but not required)
Getting there: From downtown, take the METRORail Red Line southbound to the Museum District station. Exit the train at Museum District and walk east two blocks on Binz St. to Caroline St. Turn north on Caroline and walk two more blocks. The museum will be on your right at the corner of Caroline and Prospect. When leaving, reverse this route, but instead of continuing to Fannin, stop at San Jacinto. The northbound METRORail Red Line platform to return to downtown will be on your left at San Jacinto and Binz.
Holocaust Museum Houston features a permanent exhibit detailing the history of the Nazis’ persecution of the Jewish, gypsy, and homosexual populations (as well as other groups) of Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. While not as grand of scale as the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, the Houston museum does an excellent job of explaining the atrocities committed by Hitler’s Nazi government before and during the war. The museum features many local connections, including displays with the family trees and photos of a number of Holocaust survivors that eventually settled in Houston, lists of Houston-area survivors, and a film featuring local survivors recalling their individual experiences. After arriving be sure to inquire about a free, docent-led tour. These tours are frequently conducted by local Holocaust survivors and their family members and are a better alternative to viewing the permanent exhibit alone or with the available (for approximately $5) audio tour. Each docent-led tour is unique, due to the different interests and insights of the volunteer docents, but you will have time after the tour to view the films and come back and spend more time in the permanent exhibit if you desire. The building housing the museum has quite a bit of symbolism in its design; be sure to ask a museum volunteer about it. Also included is an educational library, a special exhibits gallery with rotating and touring exhibits, a garden area, and a small prayer chapel. Like the Menil Collection, this museum is a little off the beaten path, but is well worth your time to visit.
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