creating community: The Jews of Atlanta from 1845 to the Present

Creating Community begins with the story of two young peddlers, Jacob Haas and Henry Levi, who settled here to open a dry goods store, and continues to the present day when more than 100,000 Jews call metro Atlanta their home. The exhibition depicts Jewish residents at prayer, at home, at work, and at play, and at building both their own community and the community at large.

Silverman's Cigar Store, Five Points, Atlanta. In 1895, Harry Silverman, far left, used real baby lions as an advertizing gimmick.

Reflecting the region's many ethnic, religious and racial minorities, Atlanta's Jews have determined to preserve their identity in the midst of change. They have experienced acceptance, as well as rejection and discrimination. They have established deep roots in nearly all aspects of metro Atlanta life, entwining their future with that of the city.

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absence of humanity: The Holocaust Years

Holocaust Gallery

Absence of Humanity describes the systematic murder of six million European Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators.

The story is told through historical photographs and documents, personal memorabilia and family pictures, and in the voices of those who survived and made new lives in Atlanta.

It begins with a glimpse of the vibrant and diverse world of the Jews of Europe before 1933, and continues by describing the assault on the Jewish people by the Nazis and their collaborators, the failure of the world to react to the massacre, and the struggle of the remnant of survivors to rejointhe living.

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the legacy project: Coming to America

Genia, Max and Tamara Rose, coming to America in 1947.

The Legacy Project is a multimedia display dedicated to telling the stories of Holocaust survivors who have made their homes here in Atlanta.

View portions of video interviews of survivors, explore family photograph "albums," and peruse relevant documents. Interactive maps of Europe provide historical information about the home countries of local survivors and the fate of Jewish populations during WW2. Narratives chronicle the events and conditions endured in ghettos and camps in Europe, Ukraine, and Russia. Internet resources are also available.

Contact Ruth Einstein, Project Coordinator, for more information or to be included.

Legacy was made possible through the generosity of Aleksander and Halina Szlam and family, with additional support from the Hewlett-Packard Corporation and the Fulton County Commission under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council.

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