Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education

It’s called the Oregon Jewish museum because it is in Oregon… Seriously. Just like the Oregon zoo. It doesn’t really have to do with Oregon either. That’s just where it happens to be.
With that out of the way, this place was really nice. I’ve been to a couple of concentration camps in Germany. And I’m glad portland has a museum like this to remember.

With kids, the key is finding your opening. The opportunity to have a crucial conversation. And it is always best if the really big conversations happen in pieces over time. Little nuggets of wisdom dropped here and there and answering their questions organically as things come up. I know a number of adults who have never had «The Talk» with their parents.
A few years ago, I learned that one of my friends has children who aren’t aware of their own family history and the holocaust. The children have one grandparent who was a survivor and another that died in the camps. Big stuff. They haven’t found the right time to discuss this subject with their children and at first I was surprised, but then I realized, when do you have that conversation?
If that was my situation, I think I would start by bringing them here. The museum is not quite what I expected. It is really more of a ‘family album’ than a traditional museum. The exhibition space is relatively small and from a visitor’s perspective, it appears that the public access is rather limited. The true value of the museum is to help Jewish families catalog and preserve or research their family history. There is usually one key exhibit when you visit and the person profiled has a tie to Oregon (Mel Blanc, Ernest Bloch).
They’ve recently expanded by moving into this new facility and it is interesting because it was originally built by a movie studio to screen movies for censors. There is a small theatre in the back that is still used for movie screenings, oral histories and special events.
In college, I was a history major with a focus on European history and in my travels to Israel, Germany and beyond have visited most holocaust museums, memorials and camps. I have a visceral and highly emotional experience every time. Not so here. That is why it is a good place to start the conversation. Your next stop might be the Holocaust Memorial in Washington Park.
It is trite to say, «Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it», but I think we owe it to ourselves and the next generation to explore the personal life experiences and world events that shaped our family tree. Fascinating things happen when you open your eyes and talk.

This is a nice little museum but the title is pretty misleading. The museum has almost nothing to do with Oregon. You walk into a small space where the walls are covered with pictures of Jews making aliyah to Israel. There are a few multimedia exhibits where they interview people about their early experiences on kibbutz.