At the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center in Phoenix, we are building more than a museum. We are creating a place where the lessons of history meet the moral crossroads of today. Our exhibitions and programs will invite visitors into a space that reveals the power of education and the necessity of remembrance to confront hate and inspire action. We believe remembrance must lead to responsibility — to speak out, to stand up, and work towards a world without antisemitism.
Hatred rarely begins with violence. It begins with ignorance, the absence of understanding about another person’s history, culture, or experience. Ignorance creates fertile ground for stereotypes, conspiracy theories, and fear. Left unchecked, it hardens into prejudice, and prejudice can erupt into discrimination, violence, and, at its most extreme, genocide. Education is our most powerful antidote.
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Education opens the door to empathy. It replaces fear with understanding and stereotypes with human stories. It helps us see the world through someone else’s eyes and recognize the shared humanity that binds us together. When young people learn accurate history — including the Holocaust and other atrocities — they are better equipped to identify and reject antisemitism, racism, and all forms of bigotry.
Remembrance is equally essential. The Holocaust is not simply a chapter in history. It is a warning. It shows what can happen when hatred is left unchecked, when leaders weaponize prejudice, and when the majority stays silent in the face of injustice. By preserving and sharing survivor testimonies, life stories, and artifacts, we honor those who were murdered, those who resisted, and those who risked everything to save others. We also remind ourselves that the moral choices of the past are not so different from those we face today.
Together, education and remembrance are not only about the past; they are about prevention. They can break cycles of hatred and violence, inspire moral courage, and open space for dialogue across divides. They can help a middle school student challenge an antisemitic joke, equip a teacher to address misinformation with historical truth, and inspire a community leader to respond to hate crimes with clarity and conviction.
But this work also requires creating spaces for difficult conversations. We cannot shy away from uncomfortable truths, whether about history or the realities of bias and discrimination today. We must foster environments where people can wrestle with those truths, ask hard questions, and leave with a deeper understanding of one another.
In my own journey, I have seen how a single story can open a heart, how an honest conversation can shift a perspective, and how an educational encounter can ignite a lifelong commitment to moral courage. These are the moments we strive to create every day at the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center.
In a time when antisemitism and other forms of hate are on the rise, the urgency of our mission could not be clearer. Education and remembrance are acts of resistance. They are how we honor the past, confront the present, and shape the future.
As we move toward opening our doors in 2027, my hope is that our center will be a place where visitors leave not only informed but transformed — ready to turn memory into action. Because hate never rests, and neither can we.
Author: Talli Dippold is Executive Director for the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center.
