I arrived late on a Thursday afternoon during a rainstorm, so the museum was relatively uncrowded. The docent at the ticket office was very helpful, offering me towels to dry off and giving helpful tips on viewing the museum. There is a new take on the now-common headphone tours--here, visitors are issued a little talking-stick on a lanyard. Punch in the numbers corresponding to the exhibits, hold the cell-phone like device to your ear, and you'll get information on the exhibit. I'll have to say I'm not a fan of either headphones or these devices; I would rather read information than hear it, but for those who prefer hearing, these devices offered a little more flexibility than headphones.
The first floor began with a timeline exhibit chronicling anti-Semitism in Europe from the middle ages onward. The next area featured photographs and stories detailing Jewish life, culture, and business in 1930s Europe.
Another timeline exhibit follows the events building up to the Nazi takeover. One exhibit describes the rise of pseudo-science of "ethnic purity" and other ideological building blocks of Nazi political power. Exhibits also follow the increasingly restrictive laws and the initial international responses to the Nazi rise to power, including quotes by Chamberlain and Avery Brundage, head of the Olympic Committee during the infamous Berlin Olympics. One kiosk exhibit covers the St. Louis Voyage of the Damned, and traces the fate of its passengers.
The exhibits also cover the camps themselves, and the museum has one of the original transport boxcars on display. This section is one point where I was grateful to be away from crowds; the material here cries for quiet reflection and an unhurried atmosphere. There is even a small chapel-like Mourner's Corner with a quiet memorial for visitors in this area.
The information on resistance and post-Holocaust Europe provided an interesting perspective. One exhibit charts weddings in the "Displaced Persons" refugee camps (20 per day!) and, later, births. Another area features pictures, biographies, and quotes from rescuers, from the relatively well-known (Sugihara, Wallenberg) to dozens of others I'd never heard of.
Closer to home, another area provides a running count of victims of genocides since 1945, and a photo exhibit shows examples of Jim Crowe era racism in Florida.
The second floor of the museum is devoted to artistic interpretations of the museum's major themes. In March 2011, the featured artist was Richard Notkin, whose provocative, disturbing ceramic images provided a fitting artistic complement to the material downstairs.
Back on the main exhibit floor, the gift shop features several books, posters, and prints. Outside the bookstore, a "Wall of Quotes" features quotations from Psalm 48, the Declaration of Independence, Margaret Mead, Edmund Burke, and others. One last touch--a basketball signed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar donated to the museum during his appearance there in 2009.
From the museum website:
55 5th Street South
Saint Petersburg, FL 33701
Hours of Operation
Open Daily: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (Last admission is taken at 3:30 pm)
Thursday: Open 10:00 am - 8:00 pm (Last admission is taken at 7:00 pm)
Note: The Museum closes at 2:00 pm on erev Rosh Hashana
The Florida Holocaust Museum is closed on the following holidays:
Rosh HaShanah
Yom Kippur
Thanksgiving
Christmas
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Admission Prices
- Adults - $14
- Seniors (65+) - $12
- College students - $10
- Students under 18 - $8 (general visitors)
- Student groups - $7
- Adult groups - $9
- Free Admission: Military, FHM members, USF students with ID, children 6 and under
- AAA members receive $1 off General Adult Admission
