Sydney Jewish Museum (Open for schools)

Sydney Jewish Museum is located in Darlinghurst near the CBD. Very few museums will hit you the way this way this museum hits you. A very informative museum about Jewish history, culture and about the holocaust. Holocaust was one of the darkest times for humanity and education about it is important to ensure such events never ever happen again. They had a new exhibition called “Reverberations” which uses artificial intelligence which has pre-recorded interviews of holocaust survivors to preserve their memories and is worth checking out. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Sydney.

The best Museum, at least the one I spend the most time reading, in Australia. It costs 15 AUD per person. You need to talk to the gate to get in. At first, I thought it’s a private place but it’s not. Just ask the guard to let you in and go though bag check. It has lots of history regarding Jew history including the holocaust. They also provide free tour. Strongly recommended.

It is truly an eye opening and emotion experience to see this dark part of history come to life through the the testimony of survivors, the photographs, artefacts and journal entries. The staff are passionate, knowledgeable and created an engaging tour for our group that shared a balance of shock and confrontation, whilst also sharing the resilience and courage of many Jewish people.

Excellent museum with a large range of exhibits, and the staff which some are Holocaust survivors were very helpful. A lot of students on excursions. Very moving stories and a in depth historical journey of the events of the Holocaust and experiences of the Jewish people. If you’re interested in WW2, this museum is a must see.

No need for a history book it is a living book what happen to the Jews during before and after World War II on Sunday there is a Holocaust survivor talking about her personal suffering and life in Auschwitz she is a 19 year old survivor who lost almost her whole family before coming to Australia the only problem I found was a mathematical algebraic problem with a wrong answer in the famous Jewish mathematician section of the museum go in and try their coffee and great cakes in the cafeteria it's well worth it it's well worth a visit if you have the time here in Sydney to learn about the past

What an experience. This gem is beautiful and holds SO much history and knowledge. You can spend a few hours here, good layout providing chronological timeline of Jewish history. Knowledgeable staff/volunteers who speak from firsthand accounts. Everyone should come here to educate themselves on the horrors of the holocaust and how it has shaped our present day.

If you have to visit just one museum in the city, this is it. Buzz the door and get past security checks and enter the world of Judaism and jewish history. Splendid display of Australian contribution and the exhibition related to events leading to and beyond the holocaust. Great collection of personal artifacts, supporting audio and video commentary. Do visit the children’s room for a personal touch and to know more about the victims. Auditorium sometimes hosts talks with victims and is a great way to understand from first hand experiences. Special thanks to them for sharing such painful experiences with everyone and taking questions.

Excellent museum! Contains more information and better exhibits than expected. Plus has a number of very informed and helpful volunteers and guides. Worth the time to get there. Highly recommended.

You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the wealth of knowledge at this museum. They have an organized timeline of both Jewish and world history that is so helpful and interesting, especially for history nerds like me. I even took notes - that's how much of a dork I am. There's also two floors on WWII and the establishment of Israel, along with Holocaust survivors you can talk to, take tours with, and learn from. Peter brought tears to my eyes with his story. The ladies who run the show at the front are very helpful. The gift shop, while expensive, has some cute stuff. I may have dropped some money there. There's a café as well. Moreover​, it touched my heart seeing school field trips and learning about Jewish history and hardships. I spent a good three hours here. FYI there's WiFi.

We went here one day while on vacation (holiday) in Sydney. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, and I went thinking we would be there for an hour or so. I was wrong! We spent 3-4 hours at this museum. The first floor is what I'd expect from a Jewish museum - it tells you about the religion and its practices; it also talks a little about the first Jews to settle in Australia. Then the upper 2 or 3 floors deal with the Holocaust. It was very well done, and there were lots of interesting exhibits. I've been to many concentration camps in Europe and even compared to those, I think this museum does a great job. As good as the museum was, there were a few things I didnt like. For example, although photography is not forbidden, you can't take pictures of the inside of the building; its limited to specific pieces or displays. That's really too bad because the building is quite unique architecturally on the inside. But the big problem I found was that it was absolutely mobbed by students on school trips. So much so that we were pushed out of certain areas when they came through. So overall, it's a good museum and worth visiting. Due to the students though, I'd recommend going on a weekend or in the afternoon.

Why did I put this off for so long? Actually I know why. I've been to Auschwitz and Dachau, to the Jewish memorial in Berlin, and tons of other museums, and I guess I thought the Sydney Jewish Museum would be kinda poxy compared to the real deals over at ground zero. Boy howdy, was I a moron. It's free on Sundays and the guided tour was great, and punctuated with a little bit of off-piste discovery during some of the longer monologues (there's tons to see and read) this was all great in itself, but then - THEN - we met Lotte, a Holocaust survivor who talks about her experiences. And Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the stories she tells. The number of times she avoided death by fate, by luck, by the skin of her teeth while in the camps. The loved ones she lost, who were taken and never seen again. The ugly grey camp numbers tattooed on her forearm, a forever reminder of what she went through and survived. These are experiences you can't put a price on. I've since recommended talking to Lotte to a whole bunch of my friends, there is nothing else like it in Sydney to reaffirm our common humanity and give you some idea (to we, a generation removed) of the absolute and utter worst the people are capable of.

You Don't Need To Be Jewish..... - Pros: History in your face ( where it belongs ). Tour guides with tragic memories and a hopeful outlook. - Cons: None Every year my wife and I take one major vacation. For 2013, we decided to go on a cruise from Sydney to New Zealand with 4 days in Sydney to start our trip. After reading about the area's highlights, one of the places we definitely wished to visit was the Jewish Museum. The museum, in the Darlinghurst section of the city, is a 10-20 minute taxi ride from the hotels surrounding the popular Circular Quay part of Sydney. Amount of time depends on traffic and the skill of your driver. Our guy knew the back alleys and was able to minimize the delays. The exterior of the Jewish Museum is rather handsome...one of the better looking buildings in the neighborhood. Entry is only allowed after a guard, situated inside, quickly surmises your intent and permits the bullet proof doors to open. They may seem a bit heavy on security, but if you're Jewish, you understand. It's necessary. The exhibits on the first floor are divided into 2 themes. About 75 percent described the history of the Jewish community in Sydney which we certainly appreciated because that information was completely new for us. The remaining 25 percent outlined the primary beliefs, customs and traditions of the Jewish religion. The next 6 floors...actually, each is just 1/2 floor apart...are devoted to various aspects of the Holocaust. If you've been to other museums focusing on that tragic part of history, such as Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, much of the material here will not be new. HOWEVER...There is one big factor in favor of Sydney. Many of their guided tours are led by Holocaust survivors or the grown children of survivors. There is absolutely no substitute for first hand knowledge in all its blood curdling detail. Our guide, George, was 1 year old when he and his parents fled Hungary for safety. The story of his family, as well as anecdotes related to numerous other families...some who survived and some who did not...we're simply amazing. It's one thing to view pictures and read captions. Putting a voice to the page adds many layers of understanding and humanity. When our 90 minute tour was over, all I wanted to do was shake his hand. Since we visited on a Friday, the museum closed at 2 PM because the sabbath was approaching. Be mindful it's also closed on Saturday. We would recommend the Sydney Jewish Museum for everyone. In fact, during our visit, we saw a few school groups with kids aged 10-15. Bravo to those teachers. They got a valuable history lesson they'll never forget.

Though bearing the label of being a Jewish Museum, for me not being Jewish, it was more a human history and cultural museum with direct approach to what has happened or what could happen to anyone, be they black, gay, aboriginal or whatever, because when you get right down to it, anybody and everybody can somehow be singled out. Indeed was a lesson to me, not of a religion, but of humanity and exactly how monstrous, destructive, vicious and unhuman the human can be or become. Better yet, though a history lesson, it is far more than a look in to the past, it presents a clear and distinct warning shot into the future. In no uncertain terms it lets you know not just what happened in the past, how horrid it was, but what could, if we are not careful, happen again. I listened to an elderly concentration camp survivor who give a firsthand eye witness talk about what it was like and though Jewish her story wasn't so much Jewish story as it was a tragic human story. The Jewish Museum itself is a beautiful structure, extremely well set up with straight forward pictures and displays, but extremely secure and security conscious with, though not so obvious to the casual observer, detection devices and security cameras everywhere and no photograph policy. I'm sure that is for good reason but it saddens me to think that such is necessary though unfortunately I am very aware the fact that it is.

Thinking about the concept of human massacres in itself is a completely foreign concept to me...I don't know how one person can take one life - never mind over 6 million.... but somehow it did happen, and it continues to happen in this day and age.... as much as we want to learn from history, it seems we as human beings never do.... So.... how does one "recommend" a Holocaust museum? Well I guess you don't.... but what I do recommend is a history lesson and a reminder that life for some people was very different 60 years ago....and that humanity can have a very dark ugly side, which we would rather all forget.... but isn't that the point though - too not forget? The museum contains heartwrenching documents and objects connected with the Holocaust - you get a unique perspective from the audiovisual and interactive displays. Sometime in the museum you will be given a tour from a holocaust survivor who will give you their personal testament of what life was like during these horrific times. Its heartbreaking to hear someones personal story and it's a rare opportunity to meet and engage with someone who personally lived through this piece of history... The museum also features a small shop, resource centre, café and a small theatrette. I suggest putting aside about 3 hours to take it all in.... It can get heavy at times, but I believe its an important part of history we should all remember.

Last week, I finished watching the controversial SBS three-part German miniseries "Generation War." A perfect example of German revisionism if ever I saw it. Last night, I finished reading "The Book Thief." In that piece of fiction, words mattered. But today...it was the numbers. And these were all too real. 6 million. 1 million and 1 Multitudes Countless 90 years The 21st girl 2065 1 For today, I sat at the feet of a 90-year old Auschwitz survivor who lost her entire family in the camps and by sheer luck was spared from the gas chamber herself. There had been space for only 20 girls to be transported to the death camp; she was the 21st girl. Back then the lice-ridden girl with the shaved head, who considered the infamous "striped pyjamas" a luxury, had no name. She was a number: 2065. The large tattoo somewhat crudely drawn with a Nazi hand was plainly visible on her arm. But she isn't just a number. Never was. Her name is "Lotte." Her name is "daughter," "granddaughter," "sister," "cousin," "niece," and "mother," "grandmother," "great grandmother." She will make you laugh, cry and hope. I can't tell you how important it is to hear these stories firsthand. You'll probably wonder, as I did, how Lotte - and another 70 Holocaust survivors who volunteer at the museum - has the fortitude to sit there every Sunday for 21 years and relive those horrors for people like me. But even in the moment of asking myself that, I knew the answer. This is how the survivors honour the lost ones. In a room not far from where Lotte was seated, 1, 000, 001 drops of water sit in a bowl: a drop for every child murdered by "the Führer" and his minions. Faces and names cover the back wall of this memorial to the lost innocents. As I stood and looked into each little face, I heard in my mind Elie Wiesel's voice asking how many Albert Einsteins and other great minds, doctors, scientists and artists might there have been among them? We will never know. Elsewhere, we saw the multitudes. Multitudes of bodies grotesquely twisted in mass graves. Countless skulls piled high. And the face of 1 man standing in a mass grave. He was the last Jewish man to be shot that day. Our guide today was wonderful. Incredibly, she covered a vast amount of history and hit the major points of the Holocaust in a short amount of time, without ever reducing the history to a recital of dry facts. This, by necessity, is a history that must always be told in a way that is affective and it was, because she told the story as the child of a Holocaust survivor (her mother) and the child of a Holocaust victim (her father). It is always easy to feel overwhelmed in a museum due to the sheer amount of information that is on display and this museum is no different. You will need to make more than one visit here to take it all in, but I can assure you; you will want to come back again. (Note: entry is free on the first Sunday of each month). The layout of the museum is exquisite. Multiple mezzanines tell the multiple stories that collectively comprise "The Holocaust," and have all been constructed around a centrally-located Star of David. In addition to feeling like I am in a powerfully sacred place, the feeling I get from the space itself and the people who donate their time and their life stories to it is one of dignified strength. Like the history that this museum preserves, that feeling - for me at least - is without equal. * Review originally written and posted 2 February 2014

No need for a history book it is a living book what happen to the Jews during before and after World War II on Sunday there is a Holocaust survivor talking about her personal suffering and life in Auschwitz she is a 19 year old survivor who lost almost her whole family before coming to Australia the only problem I found was a mathematical algebraic problem with a wrong answer in the famous Jewish mathematician section of the museum go in and try their coffee and great cakes in the cafeteria it's well worth it it's well worth a visit if you have the time here in Sydney to learn about the past

Like many others, I've driven or walked past here many times and have thought often about going in. Got the chance to last weekend and boy, this place totally blew me away. I didn't study history or politics in high school or university. I have often watched and of course know of WWII and the way the Jews were treated. This museum is really beautiful inside and you can tell the care and the honour in keeping the memory of the Jewish persecution alive in a respective way. Lotte is a must - her story of being in the concentration camp is absolutely riverting. The tour guide (unfortunately couldn't remember her name) told the history of the Jewish people really well. Definitely would recommend for high school kids to learn a bit of real history as well as anyone who has some time to walk through history. I will definitely be back. Give yourself a good 3 hours if you've managed to do the tour too otherwise you don't do this place justice.