PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Holocaust Museum will soon be back open to the public.
It’s been closed for over a year now for a major expansion project.
Watch full report from Casey Albritton
"So many lessons of the Holocaust seem to have been lost or forgotten or people maybe have never learned them at all," said Eric Stillman, president of the museum.
Stories of lives, both saved and lost, are carried through out the halls of the Florida Holocaust Museum.
"We have gloves that were worn in the ghetto, a shirt, a patch and then a couple letters, as well as a map of the ghetto," said Caitlin Cranfill, exhibit manager.
Museum workers are spending the next couple weeks putting the final touches on the museum.
"We are also refreshing the core exhibit, making it more modern and brand new to bring to all the visitors to continue holocaust education," said Cranfill.
It’s reopening after closing last July for an over $8 million expansion project.
The museum now includes many new sites, like a Jewish deli exhibit, that shows off traditional Jewish foods and a new boat exhibit that helped rescue over 7,000 Jews from Danish shores into Sweden.
"In the boat, what they would do is they would have to place the Jews under the deck and sometimes hide them underneath fish so that they would throw off the scent of the Nazis and the dogs they were using to find the Jews that were being smuggled out," said Stillman.
Not only are these stories resilient over time, but the museum itself is too.
Museum managers said security changes like bulletproof glass are necessary because of a recent rise in antisemitism.
The remodeled museum will feature security measures throughout a brand new entrance.
President of the Florida Holocaust Museum, Eric Stillman, walked me through the new safety measures.
"People will go through the magnetometer or the metal detector, their bags or packages will go through the x-ray machine, and then once they’ve been cleared through security, then they will come over here and go to the registration desk," said Stillman.
Cranfill is exhibit manager and said the security changes are disheartening but necessary.
"It’s scary and humbling at the same time," said Cranfill.
But with a new look and more safety, employees are excited to welcome visitors back starting on Sept. 10.
"We give people that opportunity to really learn those lessons from the holocaust, to hear from survivors, to be able to see physical evidence," said Stillman.
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