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Second Floor
No passes are required.
Gain an insider’s view of history, access Museum resources, and contemplate the connections to today’s world by visiting the new Wexner Learning Center. Explore "Witness to History: Documenting the Path of American Liberators"; "The Nuremberg Trials: What is Justice?"; view the Committee on Conscience display "Who will survive today? Genocide Emergency: Darfur, Sudan"; and visit the Survivors Registry.
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THE NUREMBERG TRIALS: WHAT IS JUSTICE?
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View of the mimeograph room in the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg, 1948. The reproduction of documents during the Nuremberg trials, often in four languages, was a huge logistical challenge.
Stadtarchiv Nürnberg/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum #96286
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“There were not six million Jews murdered; there was one murder, six million times.”
— Holocaust survivor Abel Herzberg
The Holocaust was an unprecedented crime—millions of murders, wrongful imprisonments, and tortures; rape, theft, and destruction. In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the world was faced with a challenge—how to seek justice for an almost unimaginable scale of criminal behavior. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) held at Nuremberg, Germany, attempted to broach this immense challenge on a legal basis.
The Holocaust was, in the legal language of the IMT, “a crime against humanity.” Convened within months of the end of the war, from November 20, 1945, until the verdicts were delivered on October 1, 1946, the tribunal at Nuremberg set precedents: in international law, in documentation of the historical record—in seeking some beginning, however inadequate, in a search for justice. Trace the legacy of the International Military Tribunal in this interactive display of film, photos, and oral history.
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WITNESS TO HISTORY
DOCUMENTING THE PATH OF AMERICAN LIBERATORS
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U.S. Seventh Army troops with liberated inmates at a subcamp of Dachau.
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum #74599
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In 2004, Americans gathered on the National Mall to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day, paying tribute to the World War II veterans who risked their lives to defeat tyranny. In honor of this historic occasion, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has planned a full calendar of programs and exhibitions that encourage reflection upon some of the most fundamental issues raised by the events of the Holocaust: social responsibility; the consequences of intolerance, prejudice, and racism; and the obligation of individuals and institutions to act with conscience in the face of unspeakable crimes.
Sixty years ago, American soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy. View their trek across “Fortress Europe” and their encounter with the concentration camps through the camera lenses of two who were there — U.S. Army Signal Corps photographers Arnold E. Samuelson and J Malan Heslop — and explore animated maps, wartime accounts, and eyewitness testimony in interactive multimedia stations.
EXPLORE history through the lens of those who were there, by examining photographs, animated maps, wartime accounts, and eyewitness testimony on interactive multimedia stations.
DELVE DEEPER into this history, through conversations with Museum curators, educators, historians, and other experts.
DISCOVER the fates of Holocaust survivors and learn about their lost communities, through personalized searches in the Meed Registry of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.
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GENOCIDE EMERGENCY — DARFUR, SUDAN
WHO WILL SURVIVE TODAY?
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Touloum refugee camp, Chad. May 13, 2004.
Photo by Jerry Fowler, USHMM Collection #05
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The Committee on Conscience (CoC) of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has declared a Genocide Emergency for the Darfur region of Sudan, Africa’s largest country. The Emergency was declared because acts of genocide or related crimes against humanity are occurring or immediately threatened in Sudan. Tens of thousands of civilians have been murdered and thousands of women raped. Over 1.5 million have been driven from their homes, their villages torched and their property stolen by the Sudanese government and allied militias. The death toll exceeds 100,000 and may be more than 400,000. And the crisis continues—the lives of hundreds of thousands more hang in the balance today.
The victims are targeted because of their ethnic and perceived racial identity.
Explore Museum resources and learn more about the emergency taking place right now in Sudan.
Display
VIEW photographs from refugee camps where Darfurians have fled and see artifacts from homes destroyed in the violence. HEAR the commentary of Jerry Fowler, a Museum official who visited these camps in May 2004. WATCH recent news stories for the latest updates from Darfur. WITNESS the harsh conditions refugees face and stories of what they have experienced. LEARN what you can do to help prevent genocide today.
Computer Resources
What is genocide? What is the history behind today’s crisis in Sudan? What is the world doing about Sudan and other places, such as Chechnya in Russia? FIND the answers to these questions and more. NAVIGATE the CoC’s web pages. READ the Genocide Watch issued for Sudan's Southern regions and the Nuba Mountains. SIGN UP for the CoC’s electronic newsletter. VIEW photo galleries with images from Kosovo, Rwanda, and other locations.
The mandate of the Committee on Conscience at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is to alert the national conscience, influence policy makers, and stimulate worldwide action to confront and work to halt acts of genocide or related crimes against humanity.
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BEFORE YOUR VISIT
The Visitor's Guide and Permanent Exhibition Guide may be helpful to you in planning your visit to the Museum. On the day of your visit, please also check at the Information Desk, in the center of the Hall of Witness on the First Floor, for a listing of daily program offerings.
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024–2126
Main telephone: (202) 488–0400
TTY: (202) 488–0406
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Museum Policies
- Eating, drinking, and smoking are not permitted.
- On entry, all visitors must pass through metal detectors and have their belongings scanned.
- Video/audio recording are not permitted.
- Photography is not permitted in the exhibitions.
- Flash photography is not permitted in the Hall of Remembrance.
- Private use of Museum classrooms, theaters and meeting spaces by outside groups or organizations is prohibited.
- The Museum cannot guarantee entry to groups that arrive more than 30 minutes late of their scheduled group reservation time.
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