MHM looks to bridge generations

The Melbourne Holocaust Museum will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 with a program themed around bridging generations.

This comes as the institution positions itself to support the newly announced Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

Dr Breann Fallon, the museum’s CEO, said the commemoration carries particular resonance this year following recent events.

“International Holocaust Remembrance Day is always a milestone commemoration. I think this year it carries a different resonance … because we realise we still have so much work to do,” she said.

“I think the call to action this year from International Holocaust Remembrance Day is louder than ever.”

The commemoration will feature a panel discussion with Holocaust survivor Joe Schwartzberg and family members, alongside traditional elements including candle lighting.

“We’re really trying to connect between the past, the present and the future,” Fallon said.

She encouraged Australians to reach out to others and invite them to engage with Holocaust education.

“I think people are ready to learn. I think people are ready to work together. And so I would say, reach out to people, invite them to the museum, or share a novel with them, share a documentary with them,” she said.

Fallon confirmed the museum stands ready to support the Royal Commission’s work, drawing on its existing expertise in combating antisemitism and enhancing social cohesion.

“We work in those spaces every day. We have a three-year social cohesion project going at the moment, funded by the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and we are at the coalface of this,” she said.

“We are at the coalface of fighting antisemitism and enhancing social cohesion through the lessons of the past.”

Fallon emphasised that addressing antisemitism requires more than legislative responses.

“We have to understand that what we’re seeing is rooted in behavioural issues, in cultural problems, and those sorts of broader social measures are much more difficult to tackle than a piece of legislation,” she said.

“We need to actually look at what are the root causes here. And a museum like the Melbourne Holocaust Museum [is] the place that’s able to help the commission look deeply into those sorts of problems.”

She said antisemitism, racism and violence are shaped by language, by the erosion of empathy, by a lack of nuanced discussion, and by failure to intervene when warning signs are clearly present.