The St. Louis Jewish community didn’t waste any time. Just three days after launching an emergency fundraising campaign to protect its digital archive of Holocaust survivor stories, the museum reached its $130,000 goal—and then surpassed it—thanks to overwhelming community support and one anonymous $125,000 gift that made all the difference.

Donations can be made at: https://give.stlholocaustmuseum.org/campaign/681860/donate

Community campaign rescues survivor archive

The emergency campaign was launched after the Museum received word that a major federal grant—awarded in 2022 through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)—had been suddenly terminated due to agency-wide furloughs and grant cancellations. That grant had been paying for a multi-year effort to digitize, transcribe and make publicly accessible over 300 oral histories from Holocaust survivors and liberators connected to St. Louis.

And here’s why that matters: These are stories from people who lived through ghettos, camps, hiding, forced marches and liberation—then came to St. Louis and rebuilt their lives. Many of them became our teachers, our neighbors, our friends. Their voices don’t just tell history—they teach empathy, resilience and truth.

“Thanks to our community and especially to a remarkable anonymous donor, we can ensure that these voices continue to educate and inspire long into the future,” said Myron Freedman, executive director of the Museum.

Let’s rewind for a second. The original IMLS grant had already helped digitize more than 200 audio and video testimonies, including over 80 that had never been shared before. But the money was also meant to support the final phase of the project:

• Creating full-text transcripts for all 300 interviews
• Digitizing hundreds of related photos, letters and personal documents
• Building a digital platform to make everything accessible and searchable
• Supporting the staff needed to finish the job, especially the Museum’s digital archives assistant
• Maintaining the technology needed to keep it all usable for generations to come

Without the rest of that funding, the project was stuck in limbo.

Preserving Holocaust voices for future generations

But now, with the emergency funds secured, the Museum can finish what it started. And all additional donations moving forward? They’ll go toward the ongoing preservation and accessibility of the Museum’s vast archive—thousands of documents, artifacts and photographs entrusted to it by survivors and their families.

“Our survivor testimonies are not just historical records—they’re living tools for education, empathy and memory,” said Freedman. “This community made it clear they understand that.”

Every dollar keeps the stories going.
https://give.stlholocaustmuseum.org/campaign/681860/donate