Museum of Jewish Heritage

Since its doors opened in September 1997, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children from around the world have visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Battery Park City, and have left with a better understanding of what it means to be Jewish in the 20th century.

The 112,000-square-foot Museum on the waterfront at 36 Battery Place in Manhattan's Battery Park City, with its six-sided shape and tiered roof symbolic of the six points of the Star of David and the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, has proved a powerful attraction as one of New York City's newest cultural destinations. The Museum goes beyond recounting the horrors of the Holocaust. Its mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the broad tapestry of Jewish life over the past century - before, during, and after the Holocaust.

The Museum began construction on an 82,000 SF addition in fall 2001. The four-story wing, designed by Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, architects of the original Museum building, contains Edmond J. Safra Hall, a state-of-the-art theater suitable for films, lectures and performances; a memorial garden entitled Garden of Stones created by Andy Goldsworthy; classrooms; a resource center and library; a living history center; expanded gallery space for temporary exhibitions; offices; The Heritage Cafe,; and an event/catering hall. The wing was named in honor of Robert M. Morgenthau, the Museum's Chairman and Manhattan District Attorney, in April 2003.

Our Collection
The Museum has enabled visitors to experience fully the intimate details of individual struggles and victories during the 20th century. Using first-person histories, the Museum explains the essence and beauty of Jewish life while remembering the horrors of the Holocaust and the hope people have for the future.

The Museum is organized around three basic themes: Jewish Life a Century Ago, The War Against the Jews, and Jewish Renewal. Shown throughout the exhibits are 24 original documentary films chronicling the memories of Holocaust survivors, which include testimonies from the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, founded and chaired by Museum Trustee Steven Spielberg. The exhibition is drawn from a collection of more than 15,000 artifacts, photographs, documents, and archival films that have been gathered for nearly two decades.

Temporary exhibitions are a feature of the Special Exhibitions Gallery in the Robert M. Morgenthau wing. Now on view: Daring to Resist: Jewish Defiance in the Holocaust and Sosúa: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic. The inaugural exhibition, Ours To Fight For: American Jews in the Second World War was on view through December 31, 2006. The exhibition examines and celebrates the role of Jewish men and women who were part of the American war effort at home and on the battlefield. Learn more about Ours To Fight For.

Both the State of New York and the City of New York have provided support for the establishment and general operations of the Museum, which is a member of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Institutions Group (CIG).

36 Battery Place • Battery Park City • New York, NY 10280
General Museum Info call 1.646.437.4200 • Ticket Info call 1.646.437.4202
Museum Hours Sunday-Tuesday, Thursday: 10am to 5:45pm • Wednesday: 10am to 8pm • Friday: 10am to 5 pm D.S.T., 10 am to 3pm E.S.T. • Eve of Jewish Holidays: 10am to 3pm