Building a Legacy of Hope Campaign

The Project

Why Now?

Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States, yet it the largest U.S. City that does not have a Holocaust museum or education center. With anti-Semitic and hate crimes on the rise over the last five years in Arizona and the United States, now is the time to build a new center to raise awareness and educate the community so that we can help to address these critical issues that affect all groups of people that may be marginalized and made vulnerable to discrimination. When one group’s freedom is curtailed, all people are susceptible to prejudice and injustice.

With a long-established history, strong leadership, a location in the heart of downtown Phoenix’s arts and culture district and over 10,000 visitors each year, the Arizona Jewish Historical Society (AZJHS) is poised to undertake this project. 

The impact of the new Center will be felt in many ways and in many areas. The center, when completed, will act as an anchor and centerpiece of a unique downtown arts and culture district, will contribute to the positive economic growth of the city and most importantly, will be a critical educational and cultural resource for students, teachers, adults and the community at large. Our goal is to raise the funds needed to renovate and expand the existing Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center to include a new 31,000 square foot Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center building featuring a state-of-the-art Holocaust interactive, immersive experiences, additional exhibition galleries, event space, administrative offices and an expanded area for archives and storage.

The new center is designed to create a cohesive flow from the existing Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center historic building to the new structure. To ensure that the historical integrity of the existing building is preserved, we have contracted Robert Graham, principal architect at the Motley Design Group, who completed the initial restoration of the Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center. Graham has over 30 years’ experience in historical preservation and is a past winner of the Arizona Heritage Preservation Award. Architect of Record is Deutsch Architecture Group and the Design Architect Motley Designs.

Gallagher and Associates, an award-winning, internationally recognized museum and exhibition design firm, has designed the masterplan for the new Holocaust education center that includes interactive technology, building construction and post-opening operations. Gallagher has completed many major projects of note including the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Scottsdale as well as the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel. They will continue to work closely with AZJHS through the completion of the project.

MISSION STATEMENT:

The Center is dedicated to exploring the lessons of the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity. The Center educates and inspires visitors of diverse backgrounds through survivor stories, artifacts, immersive media experiences, community outreach, and public programs.

VISION STATEMENT:

We strive to inspire visitors to learn from the Holocaust, to become upstanders, and to work toward a world without hatred and bigotry.

BUILDING FLOOR PLANS:

The former administration building will be replaced by a multi-story building. To Review the floor plans, please CLICK HERE.

NEW HOLOCAUST GALLERY:

Our project includes a new 11,300 square foot gallery space dedicated to teaching about the Holocaust. To review the Gallery, please CLICK HERE.

ARTIST, ROBERT SUTZ:

Robert Sutz initiated his own We Remember Holocaust Memorial Art Project as a way to pay tribute to local survivors, liberators and righteous gentiles and to ensure that their stories and lessons of hope and resilience are never forgotten. To learn more about Robert Sutz and his work, please CLICK HERE.

TO MAKE A GIFT OR PLEDGE

The Interfaith Project

Dear Friends,

It is quite an honor for me and my husband, Jeff Schwartz, to help advocate and support the effort to raise funds for and build the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center.

As a Christian woman marrying a Jewish man, Jeff and I had to learn to respect each other’s religious beliefs. One of the truths we discovered is the love and honor Christians have for the Jewish people as Jesus was a Jew and most of the Bible we study is the Old Testament or written before Jesus came to the earth.

My husband had no idea growing up in an Orthodox Jewish community, that Christians not only respected and prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, but also studied and learned about the same parts of the Bible that the Jews study and some even celebrate the Jewish festivals.

It was my husband’s idea and vision to involve the Christian community in this project by making this short “film”.  It was developed with the mutual love and understanding that Jews and Christians share many common beliefs. One of the ways to do this is to support each other’s endeavors. This led me to help bring awareness to the Christian community about the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center.

This is our “Passion” project.  We hope that you will join us in bringing this project to fruition and use it as a tool to educate our future generations about the lessons of the Holocaust so it will “Never Happen Again”.  Let’s lead with Love not Hate.

Kim Alexis

We hope you will consider supporting our vision through this campaign, recognizing the importance of this Center and the impact it will have on our community. With your support, this campaign will allow the Arizona Jewish Historical Society to make a critical investment to expand our footprint so that we can educate and encourage a more inclusive community.

ADDRESS:

122 E. Culver Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85004-1720

We are located right next to Burton Barr Phoenix Public Library. To find us, take 2nd Street south from McDowell.