Holocaust Centre of New Zealand

New Zealand has a compact and complete Holocaust Centre, in Wellington, adjoining the Synagogue of Wellington's Orthodox Jewish Congregation. It is open on weekdays and Sundays 10-1.

Beth El is the name of the Synagogue on Webb Street which was built along with Wellington Jewish Community Centre when the new motorway swallowed up the plot where Wellington's 1870 Synagogues had stood for a century. Their community history is deep, dating back to the founding of Wellington, and social services are many, including a kindergarten on this site. Another Synagogue called Temple Sinai on Ghuznee Street is home to Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation.

The Holocaust Centre, which opened here in 2007 (name formalised in 2012) is a well appointed educational mini-museum and associated educational programmes, available by arrangement. The modern and informative exhibits describe all aspects of the Holocaust and link with stories about migration to New Zealand. The Centre is active in Holocaust Remembrance Day services which are held at Makara Jewish Cemetery’s Holocaust Memorial. There is another Memorial at Waikumete Cemetery in Waitakere.

One of the Holocaust Centre's dynamic exhibits is a collection of 1.5 million buttons, representative of children murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. They hope to take this exhibit on the road as part of their many outreach activities. The buttons were collected by students of Wellington's Jewish Moriah Day School, now closed. Auckland's Kadimah Schoolsurvives.