Daniel’s Story: Remember the Children
Daniel’s Story: Remember the Children for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC opened in 1992 as a five year special exhibition, but is now in its tenth year. We also designed a traveling version which is circulating internationally. I put to together a team of people, including Kathleen McClean and John Chiodo, to plan this exhibition in response to a Request for Proposals from the National Park Service. Once awarded the contract we worked very closely with the museums special exhibitions department to tell the story of the Holocaust through one child’s eyes.
Designed for children ages 8 and older, Daniel’s Story is an award-winning interactive exhibition that chronicles the history and life changing events of one (composite) Jewish child and his family in Nazi Germany. Daniel’s Story is sensitive to young visitors, telling children what they will see before they see it. Visitors learn from the beginning that Daniel survives to share his story. It is an immersive exhibition environment featuring audio, video, text, photographs, historic objects, and interactives. You can turn the pages of Daniel’s diary which chronicles the changes taking place in his life with oversize pages of his words and drawings. There are introductory and conclusion media presentations and historically accurate environments including Daniel’s bedroom, kitchen, dining area, ghetto, and concentration camp. In the hallway between his bedroom and the ghetto there are windows which show photos of life outside before, and when lifted, after Nazi rule. You can sit on the park bench which says Only for Jews and you can sit on his bed in the families ghetto room. At the end of the exhibition you can write or draw your feelings on postcards. Remember the Children.