Exhibits - This is Home Now

-Sylvia Green, Winchester

“This Is Home Now: Kentucky’s Holocaust Survivors,” a multi-media exhibit exploring the lives of nine Holocaust survivors who have made their homes in Kentucky,  opened at the Lexington History Museum on May 12.  The exhibit was created by oral historian Arwen Donahue and photographer Rebecca Howell.  Eight of Kentucky’s Holocaust survivors from around the state were present at the exhibit’s opening, which takes place from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.  The program featured the survivors’ reflections on their lives in Kentucky. 

The opening closely coincided with the 60^th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe on May 8, which effectively ended World War II. Several of the survivors featured in the exhibit are also recognizing the 60^th anniversary of their liberation from Nazi death camps at Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen, which took place in April of 1945.

Most Holocaust survivors who came to the United States following the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews of Europe settled in large cities, but a few came to Kentucky about 40 are now living in the state. Using texts, recent photographic portraits, and audio stations playing excerpts from oral history interviews, This Is Home Now tells the stories of nine of these survivors. The exhibit explores the survivors initial reactions to Kentucky and American culture, including reflections on racial segregation and rural life, as well as their current lives.

The exhibit has been made possible with the help of grants from the Kentucky Historical Society, the Kentucky Humanities Council, and the Kentucky Arts Council, and with the support of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Watch this site for details of programs related to the exhibit including a symposium in conjunction with the Kentucky Historical Society slated for the fall. Details from program director Arwen Donahue.