Abstract
This thesis examines the similarities and differences between Florida’s Holocaust museums and memorials and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how each institution is a reflection of its local community and how that reflection is based on each institution’s perceived audience. Holocaust awareness grew in the United States over the last sixty years, culminating in the opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993. Since its opening the museum has served as a template for other museums on how to define the Holocaust and promote education. Museums in Florida that have opened post-1993 contain elements that are reminiscent of the national museum. At the same time, they are designed in a way that best represents the audience that each institution reaches. This thesis uses newspapers, institutional records, interviews, and the physical examination of the memorials and museums themselves, to analyze the creation of public memory. These institutions of Holocaust memory in Florida have created a sense of place for survivors and their loved ones. They are also places to honor the memory of the people whose lives were lost. Lastly, they are permanent fixtures that ensure that the story of the Holocaust will not be forgotten by future generations.
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