About Us
The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Holocaust, educating about its causes and illustrating how what happened during this tragic period relates to our lives today.
While learning Holocaust history is the key to understanding its roots, we have another duty: to use the history and lessons of the Holocaust to reject hatred, promote understanding, and inspire change.
Museum Address:
36 Millstone Campus Drive
St. Louis, MO 63146
The Museum fulfills that mission through the exhibition, preservation, and interpretation of its collections and with education programs and initiatives that promote justice and equality.
Survivors remain the heart of the Museum. Their donations of precious family photos, official documents, and heirlooms personalize history and enrich the experience of visitors. Most importantly, survivors share their stories with guests, especially students on school field trips. As the Holocaust recedes further into history, relatives of survivors continue that tradition by sharing the experiences of grandparents, parents, and cousins. Dozens of local survivors recorded their histories, which remain a rich trove of primary history.
Our History
The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum maintains a powerful mission – to use the history and lessons of the Holocaust to reject hatred, promote understanding, and inspire change. For over 25 years, the Museum has maintained deep roots in the St. Louis region.
Planning for a new Museum began in 2017 with a groundbreaking in November 2020. The $21 million expansion and renovation reopened to the public on November 2, 2022.
The expanded St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum includes an all-new permanent Holocaust exhibition, classrooms, an auditorium, archives, and a special exhibit space. It also includes a new Impact Lab, which challenges students, and all visitors, to reject hatred, promote understanding, and inspire change. In this highly interactive space, visitors are empowered to consider contemporary issues and challenges through the lens of the Holocaust.
In August 2022, the board of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis voted to establish the Museum as its own separate entity. The Museum has long existed as a department of the Federation. The Museum is now an independent 501c3 nonprofit.
The newly expanded Museum welcomes over tens of thousands of visitors each year, including students, educators, community organizations, law enforcement, religious groups, and more. In its first 100 days since opening, the Museum welcomed nearly 5,000 visitors, engaged with over 1,500 students, and recruited over 700 new members.
This institution has a long history in the community. Formerly the St. Louis Holocaust Museum & Learning Center – the Museum grew out of the desire of St. Louis area survivors and community members to ensure that the history and lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten.
Their dream was to create a destination that is educational, respectful, memorable, and relevant to future generations. After more than two decades of passion and planning, the Museum opened in 1995. The Museum has become a trusted resource in the St. Louis region and beyond.
The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum remains an important destination and resource for the entire region. The lessons visitors learn from their experience cannot be contained inside the Museum walls – this special place will provide the education and tools needed to join with others working to counter hate, fight bigotry, and shape a better world. None of this would be possible without generous support from the St. Louis community.