LAMOTH Annual Report FINAL
LAMOTH Annual Report FINAL
LAMOTH Annual Report FINAL
Museum
of the
Holocaust
ANNUAL REPORT
2010/2011
Celebrating
5 0 Y EARS
of education
and commemoration
And
the first year
in our new home
Our
MISSION STATEMENT
LOS ANGELES MUSEUM OF THE HOLOCAUST HAS A TWO-
FOLD MISSION THAT HAS REMAINED CONSTANT SINCE ITS
INCEPTION IN 1961: COMMEMORATION AND EDUCATION
COMMEMORATION
LAMH dedicates itself as a primary source
institution, one that commemorates those
who perished and those who survived by
housing the precious artifacts that miracu-
lously weathered the Holocaust era.
EDUCATION
LAMH provides free Holocaust education
to the public, particularly students from
under-funded schools and underserved
communities. We guarantee dialogue
with an actual survivor, a living
embodiment of history.
from the PRESI DE NT from the EXECUTIVE DI RECTOR
I want to thank all of our supporters for making this year, the Museum’s Dear Friend,
50th, and the first in our new building, such a wonderful success. I have
In the past year the Museum made tremendous strides fulfilling its dual mis-
been spending a lot of time lately down at our new Holocaust museum. It is
sion of Holocaust education and commemoration.
incredibly moving for me to see how the place has just come alive. Nothing
touches me more than seeing people from different backgrounds engrossed in The story is told in part by the sheer number of groups and individuals who
our exhibits, studying the artifacts or the pictures on the walls, and listening visit the facility, by, the quantity of survivor lectures given, and by the bound-
intently to the audio guide explanations. These people are truly learning about less efforts of the many volunteers detailed in this report. We have a dedicated
the Holocaust in our Museum. They come in knowing very little, and emerge staff that is devoted to our important goals. The significance of our efforts
visibly affected by what they have seen. exists also in the very fabric of the Museum itself. In this unfolding story, I
see where we stand as a society and as individuals more than 60 years after the
We have accomplished so much in our first year. Attendance at our free
Holocaust ended.
museum has increased fivefold to about 30,000 per year. We have seventeen
docents and twenty-three Holocaust survivors giving tours and speaking to Our frenetic but disciplined activity in the past year shows the tremendous
groups on a daily basis. When I come to visit the museum, I consistently see commitment our community has made to trying to keep the history of the
people enthralled by the exhibits, using the audio guides and exploring the 20th century from repeating in the 21st. We wouldn’t experience our successes
interactive touch screen devices. if there wasn’t a public drawn to us.
We have won numerous awards and accolades this past year. Nearly every ma- Individual visitors come, I believe, to participate in the journey of history
jor architectural magazine in the world has featured our museum -- the latest captured within our exhibits, the memorial Monument, the Goldrich Family
ones to do so were published in Italy and Taiwan. Our innovative technology Children’s Memorial, the Garden of the Righteous, and our rooftop con-
won gold and silver medals from the American Association of Museums, beat- templative space. I don’t believe any visitor can walk through our Museum
ing out such museums as the Getty, the Reagan Library and the National Mu- without thinking about their own identities relative to the Holocaust.
seum of American Jewish History. The New York Times reviewed us favorably.
Whether Jewish or a member of the many other victim groups, or whether
Letters
With a lean staff of just ten people, as well as thirty-four interns and vol- non-Jewish, the Museum experience provokes visitors to question how one
unteers, we have managed to run a world-class museum that has set a new might have acted 65 and more years ago. The answers our visitors tell them-
standard for excellence in Holocaust education. I am so proud of what we selves helps them emerge from the Museum thinking about how they can be
have accomplished already, and look forward to even more great things in the better in their roles today in their homes, their schools, and their communities.
coming year.
When we reflect on the past year, we may begin from a basic analysis of num-
bers and activities. But the end result of our reflection has to be our impact on
those numbers, through those activities. This Annual Report tells that story.
E. Randol Schoenberg, Board President
Yours sincerely,
ramp bordered by the Museum’s Visitors exit the Museum by Family Foundation Children’s Memo-
green roof. Glass walls on either ascending up to the level of the rial. This memorial, an open-air room,
side help them focus their attention; existing Monument, regaining the features 1.2 million holes embedded
visitors experience the culmination visual and auditory connection into the walls. The holes represent
of their transition from a playful with the park environs. The Monu- the lowest estimate of the number of
and unrestrained, public park ment, six triangular pillars on children killed during the Holocaust.
atmosphere to a series of isolated which is inscribed a brief summary Visitors are invited to inscribe their
spaces saturated with photographic of the history of the Holocaust, thoughts, reactions, wishes or prayers
archival imagery. offers the first of several opportuni- on small notes and insert them into
ties presented to visitors to ponder the wall. The notes themselves bear
The lighting of the interior galleries and assimilate their experiences the names and images of specific chil-
dims as the visitor steps down into inside the Museum. dren, as a way to sustain the memory
the subsequent rooms. By the third of those who do not have even graves.
and fourth rooms the ambient The Garden of the Righteous,
lighting becomes scarcer, leading located near the Holocaust Monu- The building enjoys the environmental
visitors to the room entitled “Con- ment, memorializes Righteous benefits of a green roof, including
centration Camps.” The ceiling is Gentiles. Several European nations natural insulation from both heat and
low, and the room is almost entirely committed to planting olive trees sound. The design is environmentally
illuminated by individual interac- in the new Garden of the Righteous sustainable as it is a subterranean
tive video-monitors about the size to acknowledge the miraculous building. The roof top garden show-
of a notebook, limiting viewing efforts of those who saved Jews and cases ornamental native grasses such as
to a single spectator. The visitor is other victims of the Holocaust. blue grama, and climate appropriate
now in the most isolated, darkest The Los Angeles Consulates from grasses including esparto grass and
and smallest underground area in Germany, Austria, Belgium, the pine muhly grass. The garden is totally
the Museum. The journey from this Netherlands, Croatia, Luxembourg, organic and will be maintained without
point forward is one of ascension Switzerland, and Turkey are all the use of chemical compounds. The
and of finding the comfort of participating in the Garden. building has received a Gold LEED
familiar space as floor levels begin rating – the national standard of
On the building side of the Garden
to rise and natural lights begins to sustainable architecture.
of the Righteous is the Goldrich
penetrate the interior once again.
Awards
ARCHITECTURE
American
TECHNOLOGY
American
2010-2011
MUSEUM
#1 Museum in
Architecture Association Los Angeles
Award: of Museums: —MyFoxLA’s Hot List
Museum of Architecture and Gold Muse Award
Design, Chicago Athenaeum for Spatial Audio Guide
WEBSITE
American American Pixel Awards:
Institute Association People’s Champ Non-Profit
of Architects: of Museums: Website – Fastspot
California Council, Design Silver Muse Award for
Excellence Merit Award 18 Camps in Multimedia
Installations
Design
Good Award:
Museum of Architecture and
Design, Chicago Athenaeum
Archive
Even within one record group, a
given collection often comprises
narratives, photographs, artworks
and various artifacts.
A s with the Archive, the history of our Library parallels the history
of the Museum. Our initial donations came around the time the
Museum opened with the first donations of documents and artifacts
Donations from others increased as
well. At the end of 2010, under the
direction of Dr. Vladimir Melamed
searching can include the use of
either diacritics or non-diacritic
language. In short, the contemporary
donated to the earliest form of the Museum, a memorial room at 6505 and with the assistance of several organization of our Library and the
volunteers and staff members, the structure of its Search Catalogue
Wilshire Blvd. The first volumes for the library were also graciously
Library embarked on a project allow researchers to find materials as
given at the same time and today our library comprises around two to modernize, reorganize, and if they were shelved at the Library
thousand volumes. essentially recatalogue all materials of Congress or at most university or
in accordance with the Library of college libraries in the United States.
Our donated wartime and post- Donations in the first decade of Congress standards. As a result of
war Yiddish, Polish, German and the 21st century consisted largely Our Searchable Library Catalogue
this careful and comprehensive
English language publications are of individual recollections and enables multiple-criteria search,
project, today every item possesses a
among the rarest documents in our testimonies in the form of memoirs. namely by keywords, subjects,
classification number of its own and
special collections. This was time of significant change authors, titles and by the Library
is grouped accordingly.
in the Museum, as it moved of Congress classification numbers.
The official opening of the Museum The online, searchable database We regard our new search catalogue
repeatedly amongst several locations.
in 1978 spurred a new influx of allows for cross-referencing of items as a collective achievement and
Library donations slowed, even as the
donations to the library. Through to allow for variant spellings of advancement in the Museum
Museum set the goal of establishing a
the mid-1990s we acquired Anglicized versions of non-English development. The search Catalogue
permanent home.
academic literature in English words and the historic evolution for the Library is available on the
and in foreign languages, memoirs, In 2010, the Museum opened its of proper names. Foreign language Museum website.
fiction and also the world-renowned doors in its new location. E. Randol
series of Encyclopedia Judaica, Schoenberg, President of the
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, Museum Board, raised the Library’s
Yad Vashem Studies, Archives of the quality significantly by purchasing
For more information on the Museum Library, contact Dr. Vladimir Melamed,
Holocaust, and The Nazi Holocaust. and donating several hundred
Director of Archive, Library & Historical Curatorship,
We also received subscriptions to volumes of new publications on the at [email protected], or call 323.651.2625.
professional journals and bulletins history of the Holocaust, including
of Holocaust studies. video materials.
The Technology in the Museum
ments and photographs displayed screen photo album. Images bubble
in the Museum. The Holocaust up towards the table surface, as if
Survivor experience is integrated in emerging from a well of history.
the Museum space through the use
of photographs, artifacts, as well as
video and audio testimonies. These
testimonies bring the Museum
displays to life and put a human
face on the otherwise overwhelm-
ing and incomprehensible number
of victims. The Museum’s multi-
media experience allows visitors to
learn about the Holocaust through
the eyes of an individual that lived
through it. The use of technology
in our new space enhances the
visitors’ experience and comple-
ments the Museum’s exhibits and When visitors touch and drag the
artifacts, expanding and deepen- pictures to them, the pictures snap
ing the visitors’ understanding of into place along the table’s edge.
the historical events and personal Narrative information about each
experiences of this time period. photo appears, allowing visitors
to learn about life in the voice of
The Museum’s new home includes those who lived it.
THE COMBINATION OF STATE- technology designed by Miles
OF-THE-ART EXHIBITS, increased Kemp’s Variate Labs and Potion In another installation, 18 touch
access to original historical artifacts Design. “The World that Was” screens stand arrayed around the
and the use of technology makes Los interactive table helps visitors un- Camp Room exhibit. Each of
Angeles Museum of the Holocaust a derstand the rich and varied lives these touch screens allow viewers
powerful teaching tool for all those who lead by European Jews before Hit- to investigate one of 18 transit,
visit. Visitors and students can tour ler’s rise to power. Populated with concentration, or death camps.
the Museum with audio guides. Audio photographs and biographical data Each screen identifies its camp by
guides allow visitors to access different collected by Central Europe Center name, and when visitors touch the
layers of information and provide a nar- for Research and Documentation, screen they can sift through several
rative to the wealth of artifacts, docu- the table functions like a touch categories of images and data.
“I will never forget [her] story. It has
changed my life. I will pass her story down
to my children and I will let people know that Museum Book Publications
the Holocaust should never be repeated.” THEY SHALL BE COUNTED:
The Theresienstadt Ghetto
–Visitor response to hearing a survivor’s story
Art of Erich Lichtblau-Leskly
Edited by Vladimir Melamed
As a prisoner during the Holocaust,
artist Erich Lichtblau-Leskly created
stunning and sardonic colored-pencil
drawings, dripping with gallows humor,
that depict day-to-day life in Theresien-
stadt, the Nazi’s ‘show’ ghetto. They Shall Be Counted stands as the first
and most comprehensive catalogue of Lichtblau-Leskly’s works and this
catalog corresponds to our exhibit on this artwork currently on display.
PORTRAITS IN BLACK & WHITE:
Holocaust Survivors
Of Café Europa
Photography by Barbara Mack
Text by Jane Jelenko
Portraits in Black & White captures the
essence of remarkable survivors, many
of whom pose with an object from their
past. Simple objects like a mother’s
glass, a thin cotton slip, or a crocheted
doily add powerful and evocative layers
to these stunning images. The brief biographies for each survivor reveal
unforgettable details that accompany the stunning photographs.
2010 2011
The Museum educated over 33,500 visitors from it’s new building in October, 2010 to the end of December, 2011.
7,125 students visited, 229 group tours were provided and 24,702 people came independently—not as part of a group.
We were able to tell the story with 316 survivor lectures from 30 survivors and with the continued service of 34 interns
and researchers assisting in the Museum library and archives.
With the Museum‘s increasing visibility in 2012, we expect a dramatic increase in Museum attendance as well.
Los Angeles
Museum of the
Holocaust ASSETS 2010 2009
Current assets
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
Cash and Cash Equivalents $358,263 $47,328
December 31, 2010 and 2009 Investments - unrestricted 266, 700 187,300
Investments - restricted - 4,453,557
Inventory 1,553 -
Account receivable 32,500 -
Grant receivable 50,000 -
Pledges receivable 663,926 1,293,300
Prepaid expenses 80,077 10,857
Total current assets 1,453,019 5,992,342
Current liabilities
Accounts payable $447,537 $505,019
Line of credit payable 650,000
Accrued expenses 1,649 683
TOTAL LIABILITIES 1,009,186 505,702
NET ASSETS
2010 2009 Unrestricted net assets 16,811,670 8,984,078
Temporarily restricted net assets 713,926 5,746,856
Total net assets 17,525,596 14,730,934
Increase due to completion
of building construction TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS $18,624,782 $15,236,636
2010 2009
Los Angeles
UNRESTRICTED
TEMPORARILY
RESTRICTED TOTAL TOTAL
Holocaust Corporations
Special Events
56,721
497,794
-
-
56,721
497,794 146,058
-
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Sonia Martinez
Miriam Bell · Lidia Budgor · Rev. Dr. R. Scott Colglazier Jodi Shapiro
Andrea Cayton ·Klara Firestone · Renee Firestone · Edith Frankie CONTENT DESIGN RESEARCHER
David Goldfarb · Jona Goldrich · Blanca Hadar · Stanley Kandel Joanna Chen
Marie Kaufman · Masha Loen · Dr. Harvey Martz · Gregory McKay
Paulette Nessim · Frank Schiller · Dana Schwartz
ANNUAL REPORT
2010/2011