A visit to the Cape Town Holocaust Centre is always a moving experience for me. The permanent exhibition at the centre stands as a poignant reminder of a time that, thankfully, very few of us alive today actually experienced for ourselves.
I’ve been to the centre on several occasions – it’s free of charge after all – and each time I’m shown mankind at its worst, but also mankind at its best. In amongst all the images and videos of the grizzly horrors of World War 2, you’ll find stories of hope and courage. That, for me, is what the permanent exhibition is really about – rising above all adversity, collectively as a species. Aside from the permanent exhibition, the centre often hosts temporary exhibitions as well.
One such exhibition is, The Liberation of Auschwitz through the Lens of Soviet Photographers. Starting today and running until 22 November 2015, the exhibition portrays the pivotal role that the Soviet Union played in liberating many Holocaust survivors and prisoners from Nazi concentration camps.
The Consulate General of the Russian Federation, in partnership with the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, has generously lent the Cape Town Holocaust Centre this powerful photographic exhibition, which will run alongside a screening of The World After Auschwitz, a documentary film by the President of the Russian Jewish Congress, Moshe Vyacheslav Kantor.
A visit to the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, while not light-heartening by any account, is a must for any Capetonian. The exhibition here is comparable to some of the finest across the world, and is a sobering reminder of the harmful effects of prejudice, racism and hatred.
OF NOTE
When 12–22 November 2015
Centre opening hours: 10 am – 5 pm Sunday to Thursday, 10 am – 2 pm Friday
Where 88 Hatfield Street Gardens
Cost Free
Contact +27 21 462 5553, [email protected], Facebook page
Photography courtesy Cape Town Holocaust Centre
