A Major Holocaust Exhibition for Auckland

The Holocaust Foundation is seeking to establish a permanent exhibition in the centre of Auckland, NZ’s largest city. The exhibition builds on the Foundation’s work since 2008, photographing and interviewing survivors and touring original exhibitions.

New to the Foundation’s exhibition is the Circle of Names. Visitors enter a round enclosure to view thousands of Holocaust victims’ names. These are projected on rusty metal panels and include the age of every individual at time of death. On the panels between names appears a brief introduction to the Holocaust.

Also featured and spotlit in the dark enclosure are rust covered pillars. Each represents a nation. In order to convey the magnitude of loss, the size of each is proportional to the number of Holocaust victims from that particular nation.

The exhibition also includes large canvases of Auschwitz-Birkenau shot in 2019. These are accompanied by plaques offering explanations of the events that took place in this, the most famous of the very many Nazi facilities. Large black and white survivor portraits line one of the walls.

Central to the exhibition are three minute Holocaust survivor stories on an oversized projection screen, along with original music. From interviews typically ninety minutes duration, a mere twenty lines of text have been distilled. The stories are curated excerpts of lengthy interviews that have been meticulously catalogued. The various snapshots, taken as a whole, provide a robust and well rounded introduction to the experience of European Jews in the 1930s and 40s. Quite deliberately, the exhibition contains no graphic historical imagery.

The Holocaust Foundation takes a unique approach and has been widely acclaimed. The Foundation’s earlier work has attracted international attention and been shown in Germany, Australia and UAE.

The exhibition is scheduled to open November 2026 in the heart of Auckland City. Signup to be informed of the opening details.