Construction kicks off for Toronto's new $27-million Holocaust museum—at a time it's needed most

If you haven't heard, Toronto is getting a new Holocaust museum. The $27-million institution will be located in the new Prosserman Jewish Community Centre, and will do more than simply commemorate the past: it aims to make the Holocaust relevant to modern visitors, world events and Canadian life, using augmented reality, tablets and video of survivors to tell its stories.

But work began only recently, and it will take at least a year before its doors open to the general public. In the meantime, the city's old Holocaust museum has closed down and a rash of antisemitic incidents has been sweeping across Toronto's public schools.

How can the museum's organizers stay relevant at a time when their presence is arguably needed most? The CJN Daily's Ellin Bessner took a tour of the construction site to get a sneak peek at the developments, and spoke with the museum's executive director, Dara Solomon, as well as fundraiser Glenys Lindenberg, to discuss.

What we talked about:

• Learn about the museum at holocaustcentre.com/revitalization-project
• Read "Why is every Holocaust museum in Canada undergoing a massive overhaul right now?" at thecjn.ca
• Watch a video about JRoots and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center partnering up to help Urkainian refugees in Poland on Vimeo

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.