Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. opens at Cincinnati Museum Center in October 2025. For those who have never visited the camp, it represents an unparalleled learning opportunity.
“The people are not present… but there are traces of them still in those buildings.” —Cori Silbernagel
What can Auschwitz still teach us today? A visit to Poland made by two of our staff, Cori Silbernagel, Director of Collections & Exhibitions, and Trinity Johnson, Director of Holocaust Programs & Museum Experiences, may help shed some light on that question. They share powerful moments from behind-the-scenes spaces like Block 10 and an unpreserved barrack, where the fingerprints of Soviet POWs remain in the brick mortar.
80 years after liberation, the world may think it knows most everything about the space and history of Auschwitz. Cori and Trinity’s conversation shows us that we are never really done learning, and that Auschwitz still holds lessons for us today.
Those who visit Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. will not just see the same exhibition shown around the world. They will also get in-depth local stories of Auschwitz survivors who immigrated to Cincinnati. During WWII, the historic train station where this exhibition will be shown saw millions of American servicemen come through its doors. But there was another group of travelers whose lives would be impacted by Union Terminal. More than 1,000 Jews who survived the Holocaust immigrated to Cincinnati, arriving in the very building where the public will be able to view Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.
The opportunity to bring this exhibition to Cincinnati has been generously supported by Rhonda and Larry Sheakley, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission and
H.B., E.W. & F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee
Jacob G. Schmidlapp Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee
Helen G., Henry F., Louise Tuechter Dornette Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee
Western & Southern Financial Group
Les and Renee Sandler
The Kanter/Knue Family
The Neil Bortz Family
Rosenthal Family Foundation
Beth and Louis Guttman
To Bear Witness: Stories from Auschwitz to Cincinnati is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Family Center for Storytelling. Special thanks to Julie and John Cohen for their support of this series. Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. was created by Musealia in cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Presented by NEON.
Musealia https://www.musealia.net/
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum https://www.auschwitz.org/en/
NEON https://www.neonglobal.com/en/
Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. ticket info, additional resources for both adults and students, travel itineraries and more https://www.cincymuseum.org/auschwitz/
Visit the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/