Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust to Present “The Common Circles Experience"

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present The Common Circles Experience, a new two-part immersive exhibition opening April 23, that offers a distinctive, research-backed approach to Holocaust education by beginning with shared humanity and local community life. The exhibition invites visitors to see themselves and others in the community before fully engaging directly with Holocaust history and survivor and liberator testimonies.

“We created The Common Circles Experience to spark curiosity and encourage deeper exploration of the many layers that shape who we are,” said Marla Felton, Founder and Executive Director of Common Circles. “As students and visitors see themselves reflected in these stories, they form stronger connections to Holocaust history – and to one another.”

Sue Spiegel, Creative Director of Common Circles, added, “Curating this exhibition has been profoundly meaningful, as photographing New Yorkers and learning their stories has been an act of community-building. We look forward to welcoming more visitors not only to experience the exhibit but also to share their own stories – helping to foster a true community of belonging.”

“Welcoming The Common Circles Experience to the Museum is a natural extension of our mission to educate diverse audiences about the history of the Holocaust and its continued relevance,” said Jennifer Goldsmith, Vice President of Education & Visitor Services at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. “Common Circles explores the complexities of human identity and thoughtfully prepares visitors for the second part of the exhibition, exploring historical and modern examples of antisemitism, and engaging with personal stories from Holocaust survivors.”

In the first section, We Are New York! Bridging, Belonging & Building Community, visitors move beyond first impressions through art, photography, optical illusions, and interactive installations that reveal the many layers that shape each of us as individuals and neighbors. Visual storytelling prompts visitors to reflect on how they see one another and the world around them, and how easily both people and history can be reduced to a single story. By centering connection and embracing complexity, this opening section prepares visitors—especially young people—to encounter the Holocaust not as distant events, but as deeply human stories that reverberate in contemporary life.

The second section, Voices Against Hate: Lessons from the Holocaust, is presented in partnership with USC Shoah Foundation’s Dimensions in Testimony and uses cutting-edge interactive technology to bring visitors into life-like conversations with Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Jewish American liberator Alan Moskin. Visitors can ask their own questions and hear firsthand testimony, engaging directly with survivors’ experiences through real-time interactive technology. This section provides historical context, examines antisemitism past and present, explores Jewish life and peoplehood, and highlights local stories of hope and survival that connect global history to the realities of today’s communities. Because visitors first meet one another as layered, multifaceted human beings, they encounter Anita and Alan not only as a survivor and a liberator, but as individuals with rich, full lives.

Students and educators consistently describe The Common Circles Experience as authentic, interactive, and deeply engaging, underscoring the power of combining technology, psychology, the arts, and storytelling to address hatred and build communities of belonging. In a moment marked by growing polarization and rising antisemitism, The Common Circles Experience strengthens historical understanding while inviting visitors of all backgrounds to reflect on their own roles and responsibilities today.

The exhibition – which will be on display through June 28 - is recommended for grades 5 and up, and tours of The Common Circles Experience are approximately 1.5 hours. The first section, We Are New York! Bridging, Belonging & Building Community, is accessible to visitors of all ages.

Dimensions in Testimony was developed in association with Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, with technology by USC Institute for Creative Technologies, and concept by Conscience Display. Funding for Dimensions in Testimony was provided in part by Pears Foundation, Louis. F. Smith, Melinda Goldrich and Andrea Cayton/Goldrich Family Foundation in honor of Jona Goldrich, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and Genesis Philanthropy Group (R.A.). Other partners include CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

About Common Circles

Common Circles is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that partners with schools and communities to create customized, research-based, interactive, traveling experiences that combine techniques from psychology with cutting-edge technology, the arts, and storytelling to improve intergroup relations, increase empathy, deliver effective Holocaust education, reduce antisemitism and bias, and build communities of belonging – with impact measured through ongoing research. Learn more at https://commoncircles.org.

About The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to Never Forget. Opened in 1997, the Museum is committed to the crucial mission of educating diverse visitors about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust.

The Museum plays a leading role in Holocaust education in New York City and the tri-state area, serving many thousands of school children each year, with initiatives such as its Holocaust Educator School Partnership Program, professional development opportunities, its Speakers Bureau which enables conversations with survivors, and the creation of tools and resources such as the newly released Antisemitism FAQ Educator Resource to support educators in teaching about both historical and contemporary antisemitism.

The Museum’s current offerings include Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark, an exhibition about the extraordinary rescue of Denmark’s Jewish population in 1943, a story of mutual aid and communal upstanding in difficult times for visitors aged 9 and up; and The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do, a major exhibition offering a timely and expansive presentation of Holocaust history, on view in the main galleries.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage maintains the Peter & Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Resource Center, a collection of almost 40,000 artifacts, photographs, documentary films, and survivor testimonies, and contains classrooms, a 375-seat theater (Edmond J. Safra Hall), special exhibition galleries, and a memorial art installation, Garden of Stones, designed by internationally acclaimed sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. The Museum also hosts LOX at Café Bergson an OU-certified café serving eastern European specialties.

Each year, the Museum presents over 100 public programs, connecting our community in person and virtually through lectures, book talks, concerts, and more. The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visithttps://mjhnyc.org.

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