Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum celebrates "upstanders" of yesterday, keeping the promise
DALLAS — The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is staying open until 8 p.m. Thursday night to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. They're offering special programming and, thanks to support from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, free admission. It's all to help North Texans come together while keeping the promise to "never forget."
"What they went through and how they fought it... it was just undescribable what they went through," shares Ginger Wicks of Anna.
It was a first visit to the museum for Wicks who admits that the reminders of the sacrifice and the suffering were at times overwhelming, and emotional.
"And it's just very moving," said Wicks.
The intentional visit Thursday is part of how she'll keep her promise to the D-Day soldiers.
"I think it's a part of history that we all need to share with each other," Wicks said. "To know where we've come from... and what they were fighting for."
The landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the end of World War II and signaled the liberation of the Jews. But museum organizers also remind us that it is also important that we learn not just how the Holocaust ended, but also how we began.
"It was possible, because of millennia of hatred, of antisemitism, which is running rampant in our country today," explains Mary Pat Higgins, Museum President & CEO. "Hatred in all its forms, is pervasive throughout society. And if we don't stand up to it, things like the Holocaust can happen. yD-Day is an important marker of civilizations coming together to stand up to Nazi Germany and to stop that hatred. But if people had stood up in the beginning, the soldiers wouldn't have had to risk their lives."
An interactive kiosk allows visitors to hear from some of the Texans who fought to liberate the concentration camps. While the"'Ten Stages of Genocide" gallery provides a sober warning about the present-day risks of hatred.
And yes, there is hope woven into the museum walls as well as they celebrate the 'upstanders' of yesterday and educate the "change makers" of tomorrow.
"I think it's great to know how history happened," says 9th-grade museum visitor Wesley Stellano, "and make sure our civilization doesn't go back to how it used to be."
Stellano says the museum exhibits made history come alive and he's glad younger sister Gwen suggested they visit. As for the 7th grade Stellano, she sums up goals for our world simply, sharing, "We should treat others how you want to be treated... so we can never go back."