History That Doesn't Suck 202: Holocaust Prologue with US Holocaust Memorial Museum Director, Sara J. Bloomfield
Mar 30, 2026
Sara J. Bloomfield, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and longtime leader in Holocaust education, reflects on why a national museum matters and how survivor testimony shapes memory. She discusses museum origins, engaging non-Jewish visitors, teaching causes and responsibility, preserving survivor voices, and using artifacts to humanize vast tragedy.
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Museum Purpose Tied To Democracy
- The US Holocaust Memorial Museum exists to defend democracy by teaching how advanced democratic societies can still collapse into tyranny.
- Sara Bloomfield explained the museum grew from a Carter commission recommendation to be an educational institution paired with Congressional partnership and survivor-led fundraising.
Preserve Authenticity With Voices And Objects
- Use survivor testimony and original artifacts together to preserve authenticity as firsthand witnesses decline.
- Bloomfield notes the museum leverages videos, in-person survivors, rail cars, barracks, and shoes to keep younger visitors engaged.
Visitors Want To Know Ordinary People's Choices
- Non-Jewish visitors often ask what ordinary people in Germany and Europe did during the Holocaust, highlighting interest in bystander and collaborator behavior.
- The museum intentionally explores how the silence and actions of many ordinary people made the Holocaust possible.