Holocaust Museum- LIBERATION 3 of 3

The architect- Stanley Tigerman (September 20, 1930 – June 3, 2019) was a Jewish, American architect, theorist and designer, famous for many buildings including this Holocaust Museum.

The architectural features make it a place (65,000-square-foot) as both history and memorial. A theme throughout the building is the journey from darkness to light, clearly in the exterior’s starkly divided dark and light wings, and carried out as you travel through the interior. The dark wing faces southeast towards Jerusalem, while the light wing faces due east in anticipation of a Messianic Age. You enter the museum’s dark side, where dark walls and sharp angles represent the descent into darkness and the horrors of the Holocaust. Dark and light sides are connected by a “hinge” that symbolizes the rupture in humanity that occurred during the Holocaust (leading to an actual German rail car of the type used to transport Jews to concentration camps. The light side of the Museum uses soft rounded edges and natural light to emphasize exhibits that represent the rescue and renewal of Holocaust Survivors. The upper level of the building’s light side houses spaces for reflection.

Materials and joinery were left exposed in their natural, undecorated state to represent transparency, a response to the deception used by those responsible for the Holocaust. The two columns at the entrance of the Museum are titled “Jachin” and “Boaz” and are designed to the exact dimensions of the columns of Solomon’s Temple as described in I Kings. Crowning the Museum’s exterior are six points of light, representing the six million Jews who perished.Read more