Virginia Holocaust Museum

06/17/2026

Lodz Ghetto deportations to Chelmno

For roughly 18 months there had been no transports out of the Lodz ghetto, which had been functioning as a massive industrial labor camp. On June 16, 1944, they began again. Jews in Lodz were informed that volunteers were needed for work outside the ghetto. In truth, this was the beginning of the liquidation of Lodz, the sole remaining ghetto in occupied Poland. In the following weeks, under the illusion of being sent on work detail, roughly 7,000 Jews were taken to the Chelmno extermination camp and murdered. By the end of Summer 1944 the ghetto had been liquidated, and nearly 80,000 Lodz prisoners had been murdered at Chelmno and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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06/16/2026

Going to a Holocaust museum is hard—and that’s exactly why it matters.

This summer, step out of the Richmond heat and into a cool, quiet space where you can slow down, remember, and reflect on what happens when hate goes unchecked. Plan your visit to the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

Visit the Virginia Holocaust Museum to learn about the Holocaust and its victims. Be inspired to make a difference by rejecting hate and indifference.

06/15/2026

06/15/2026

Step out of your everyday and into our Dimensions in Testimony Theater, where you can have a real-time, interactive conversation with Holocaust survivors and other witnesses to genocide. Ask your own questions and hear their responses drawn from hours of recorded testimony—each session shaped by the curiosity of the audience in the room.

Showings run daily on the hour from 11 AM to 3 PM, and last about 30–45 minutes. Seating is by reservation; stop by our front desk when you arrive to reserve your spot and experience this powerful, one-of-a-kind encounter.

06/14/2026

As Virginia marks VA250, we’re reflecting on what freedom means—not only in 1776, but in the lives of those who lost freedom under Na**sm and rebuilt their lives in America. History asks something of all of us.

Plan your visit to the Virginia Holocaust Museum this summer—whether it’s your first time or your 25th—at vaholocaust.org/plan-your-visit-today. We’re open seven days a week in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, with free parking and exhibits that most visitors explore in about two hours.

Visit the Virginia Holocaust Museum to learn about the Holocaust and its victims. Be inspired to make a difference by rejecting hate and indifference.

06/13/2026

From Buchenwald prisoner to Hyde Farmlands refugee to U.S. soldier.

George Landecker was born in 1918 in Nordenberg, Germany. As a teenager he trained in agriculture at Gross Breesen, but his life was shattered when he was arrested in Frankfurt during Kristallnacht and imprisoned in Buchenwald. Through the Gross Breesen support network, he was released in early 1939 and given a narrow path to safety.

In 1940, that path led to Virginia. George received a visa to come to Hyde Farmlands, where he worked from February 1940 to August 1941, rebuilding his life and sharpening the farming skills he’d first learned in Germany.

In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and returned to Europe in uniform—like you see in this portrait. After the war, he helped establish a new local government in Bad Mergentheim, then returned to the United States, his wife Jessie, and a 34‑year career as a dairy farmer in New York.

George Landecker’s journey reminds us that Richmond’s 250‑year story is also the story of refugees who became neighbors, citizens, and defenders of democracy.

Visit the Virginia Holocaust Museum to learn more about George Landecker, Hyde Farmlands, and Richmond’s connections to Holocaust history. Explore our Hyde Farmlands exhibit and discover how stories of refuge and service shape Richmond’s 250‑year journey.

06/12/2026

Beat the heat and experience history in our
Dimensions in Testimony Theater at the Virginia
Holocaust Museum.

06/12/2026

Anne Frank, born on June 12, 1929, has become one of the most widely known voices of the Holocaust through the pages of her diary.

Her words remind us that behind every statistic is a life, a family, and a future cut short.

Experience powerful exhibits and survivor stories at the Virginia Holocaust Museum and take time to remember.

06/11/2026

It's hot outside. History is waiting inside.

Escape the summer heat and discover the stories, artifacts, and experiences that make the Virginia Holocaust Museum one of Richmond's most meaningful destinations.