The Historical Society of Palm Beach County is currently hosting the Mobile Museum of Tolerance, an initiative of the Museum of Tolerance and Simon Wiesenthal Center, at the Richard & Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum in downtown West Palm Beach. The mobile educational experience will remain at the museum through October 9, complementing the Historical Society’s “Stories of Rescue” exhibition.
The Historical Society will welcome Palm Beach County students to the museum to experience the exhibitions and related educational programming, reflecting its commitment to making history accessible to young people and using the lessons of the past to encourage empathy, critical thinking, and responsible citizenship. Recognized by the School District of Palm Beach County as a Holocaust Education Site, the Historical Society works with local educators to provide meaningful, age-appropriate Holocaust education for Palm Beach County students.
The Mobile Museum of Tolerance brings the educational mission of the Los Angeles-based Museum of Tolerance directly into communities through an innovative museum-on-wheels. The mobile museum provides immersive, technology-driven educational programs led by trained educators. During their visit, students will participate in the Mobile Museum’s “Power of Ordinary People” program, which explores the choices individuals make when confronted by hatred and injustice. Its programming uses lessons from the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement, and other historical events to examine prejudice, antisemitism, discrimination, propaganda, and the choices ordinary people can make when confronted by hate.
Students will continue their experience with “Stories of Rescue,” an exhibition created to support the School District of Palm Beach County’s Holocaust education goals while providing an important resource for the entire community. Through historical context, imagery, personal testimony, and interactive materials, the exhibition explores the Holocaust through the stories of individuals who chose to intervene and help others, often at tremendous personal risk.
At the heart of “Stories of Rescue” is the oral history of Eliane Strosberg, a Palm Beach County resident whose parents helped rescue 239 Jewish children in Nazi-occupied France, smuggling them to safety in Switzerland. Through Strosberg’s testimony and documentation of her family’s actions, students directly learn from the story of individuals who made the courageous decision to act.
For more information, visit pbchistory.org.
