virginia holocaust museum

I have been studying this subject for a long time and there are still things I haven't learned. This is a free attraction but they deserve the donations. I love what they are doing and I hope many other get to see what they offer.

The museum is a great way to spend 1 - 3 hours if you are visiting Richmond. Parking is not a problem. However, the museum is definitely a more simplistic, photograph based museum. Overall, it's a nice complimentary source of enlightening information that I do recommend seeing.

Very close to I-95, visible northbound, makes it easy for travelers to stop in (as opposed to a rest stop!) - sorry I didn't know of this great travel stop earlier! Yes, it is free with donations being accepted. We were not offered headphones, nor a guided tour (yet many young people slumped in chairs behind the counter). Was given a booklet to read as we walked thru - difficult, small print. I would love to read more from a website but the website is very unstable and from what I could make out did not tell captivating stories. The building is beautiful but the display were mostly about reading placques. A lot of terror happened in Hitlers reign but I felt only the implications to the Jews was being shown (with all respect). I even had to ask my husband 'did I miss the display discussing Hitlers death?' There was no sounds, videos (though screens were mounted but not on). A suggesting might be to put cutout footprints in the outside train car to show how closely people were crammed in - it would make a real connection (at least to me). I was not able to grasp any personalized stories or many personalized heroic actions. Im sure this kind of detail exists somewhere. Again trying to read while walking thru the museum with many people around is difficult. I would definitely visit again.

Words escape me- was it enjoyable? most certainly not. But this is an undeniable part of history. One which many would like to forget, even deny. There is no denying it here. Very moving. I am glad we went.

This is my first visit to a holocaust museum and it was tough to watch and read about the sufferings these people have gone through. Though I've read about it, there is always something new to learn and I appreciated the local connection with Virginians who were affected too. A small museum but I felt it presented a good balance of information to leave the visitor reflecting. On a practical note, there is free parking in front of the main entrance. And this museum is a short walk to the canals and the multi-million dollar flood wall which was completed in 1995, in order to protect the city from the James River.

Enjoyed this museum very much. You follow a path of experiences from Jews being sent to ghettos, concentration camps, work camps, death camps, survival, those who helped, art of children in a camp, liberation, camps for survivors, Nuremberg Trials, and a good guide book to follow all of it. Very moving experience, art and poetry of children at the camps interesting and the gas chamber was frightening even as a tour, can't imagine going through that, It is very well done and I would highly recommend the museum.

My first and only visit was in October, 2014. This small museum is well worth the visit. While Richmond has so many nice places to visit, you should take the time to stop here.

It's hard to assign a number of stars to this museum. I have seen the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the Holocaust Museum in D.C., so compared to those two museums, I can't give it 5 stars. However, what it does well is bring the holocaust "home", with Holocaust survivors from Richmond telling their stories. These personal accounts begin with a short film of these survivors telling of their experiences within the camps. And, there are a couple of screens in other parts of the museum where survivors recount other experiences. Especially interesting to us was the re-creation of the courtroom of the Nuremburg trials, with actual news footage covering the proceedings. It really felt like we were THERE. I thought that the most touching thing though were the drawings done by children in the camps, as well as their poetry. I didn't particularly like the guidebook they gave us as we came in. We were supposed to follow it through the museum and read about the various exhibits. I found it distracting and stopped using it after about the second room. Audioguides would be much better, and I hope that they add these in the future. All in all, we enjoyed our visit and felt that our understanding of this dreadful part of our history was enhanced in a new way. Wear comfortable shoes. The museum is much larger than it appears from the outside and there are few places to sit, except for the Nuremburg exhibit.

We were wedged in between school groups-I guess we should have gone on a weekend. All the school groups had a tour guide to talk to them about each room, we only had our book to read on each exhibit. We really could not wander at our own pace with a group in front and behind us, nor could we join up with one of the groups. However, we made the best of the situation, read and listened as we were able. There is a lot of information packed into this museum. Very good way to teach the school groups about the Holocaust - what a horrible and tragic time. Standing in the cattle car with just the 4 of us made you really think what it would have been like to have 100 or so people jammed inside. We were able to be in the gas chamber with a school group-wow! It really makes you think. I like how the museum ended with the Nuremberg trial setting, very appropriate.

I visited the Virginia Holocaust Museum as a first date with a fellow I'd met online. When we arrived, we were shown to a room where we watched an introductory video about the Holocaust that featured Richmond area Holocaust survivors. Following the short, 15-minute film, we were given guide books, and we began our self-guided tour. What I liked best about this museum was the unique perspective that was taken to tell the story of Holocaust. I'd never heard about Kristallnacht, the vessel called the St. Louis that carried Jewish passengers to Cuba, or about the displaced persons camps following the Europe's liberation by the Allied Forces. Best of all, many of the exhibits featured Richmond area members of the Jewish community. Including local community members certainly helped to the experience seem more real, not that the Holocaust should ever be thought of as propaganda or exaggerated. It seems to me that this museum was not recommended for children who haven't yet reached the sixth grade, but as a child, I learned about the Holocaust early, and think that any mature child will able to handle it. There is an exhibit that allows you to crawl through a tunnel to replicate what a family hidden by Christian farmers went through to avoid detection by the SS army. It is a small dark space that requires you to crawl for about 2-3 minutes, so I wouldn't recommend it for people with limited mobility or claustrophobia. If this interactive exhibit isn't one for you, they also have a replica of the court room that tried Nazi leaders for war crimes in military tribunals following liberation by Allied Forces. Also, there is a replica of train cars used to transport Jews to concentration camps that is much easier to navigate than the previously mentioned tunnel. Beyond the Holocaust, the museum has a replica of a Lithuanian choral synagogue. The tour guide book indicates that room featuring the choral synagogue replica is used as an auditorium, and it really just speaks to Jewish culture more so than just the Holocaust. At any rate, the replica is beautiful and impressive--I think it was my favorite part of the whole museum. :) If you're in the Richmond area and you have about 1-2 hours to spend, visit the Virginia Holocaust Museum. There's no charge to enter, the exhibits are interesting and seem to portray some of the lesser known facts about the Holocaust. Just keep in mind that food and drink are prohibited in the museum as is flash photography, though there is a gift shop to buy souvenirs as reminders of your time spent taking a look at one of the darker times in human history.

We were looking for something new and different to do with our kids on our last trip to Virginia and stumbled upon this museum. They ask for a donation instead of an entrance fee-please make a donation-it is a great museum and a worthwhile investment.The museum starts with an introduction movie and then you walk through the museum. It was very interesting and there was a lot of information. My two kids were in awe, as the Holocaust was just a story to them-this humanized it for them. The best part was that it was set up in a way that you were able to simulate what the Jews went through-ie, there was an underground tunnel and cave that they could go through, there was a life-like example of the bunks in the concentration camps, and there was a wagon there that they used to transport the Jews. I was doing ok emotionally until I walked through a room and realized I was in a replica of the showers they used to gas the prisoners. A chill came over me and I had a hard time shaking that eerie feeling. There was also a replica courtroom from the Nuremberg trials which was fascinating.I would recommend this for families of older children. My 11 year old was ok, but I could tell it spooked him.A great place to visit.

Just for planning purposes, this museum is a block away from the Edgar Allan Poe museum, so it's easy to combine visits, and the Holocaust museum had a much larger parking lot. The museum was decent - I think it was geared more toward young adults new to learning about the subject. The gift shop had a good selection of books.

The VHM was amazingly well done with great displays and interactive exhibits. The interviews brought realism to a dark part of human history, they provided much more info than compared to other sources, and were sensitive to other religions.

Being from the region, I had some time and wanted to visit the VHM. I have a lot of interest in WW2 and thought this would expand my knowledge. Place is pretty easy to get to, free parking is across the street. It's nice there is no entrance fee, but they ask for donations, which I planned on doing. The tour is self guided unless you are with a group.I was basically alone until I moved upon a small school group (very well behaved). However at some point, the VHM guide made a very disturbing statement. On the subject of the Nazis forcing out Jews and others, she asked "Who in this county is doing this now?" With no response from the kids, she replied "The Republicans! They are trying to send all the Mexicans back. But we need them because they do all the work that nobody else will do. And without them all the prices will go through the roof!" I felt like saying "Excuse me?" but I did not want to start something, and I moved along.Otherwise, the VHM does have a lot. The Nuremburg trial area was VERY realistic. And standing in the cattle car, knowing that about 100 people would be squeezed in there for many miles, really made me think. I would not recommend this museum for young kids. Wait until they some knowledge of WW2.

I visited a Holocaust Museum in Germany so I was curious to see what the museum in Virginia was all about. I was surprised and very pleased to learn things I did not learn while I lived in Germany. It was also nice to see how many survivors lived in Richmond. It is a self tour museum; they gave me a book (which you have to return) that helped guide me through the exhibits and each exhibits had a short read in the book. Overall, a must do if never visited... oh and it's free!