Some Muslim groups in Indonesia are demanding the closure of the country’s first permanent Holocaust exhibition, charging that it is part of an effort to normalize Indonesia’s relations with Israel.
The exhibit launched timed to International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 and is located at Indonesia’s only synagogue, Shaar HaShamayim, located in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province. “Shoah: How is it Humanly Possible?” was created by the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center, which is based in Israel.
Yaakov Baruch, Shaar HaShamayim’s rabbi, says his motivation to open the exhibition was personal.
“When I had this idea to build a Holocaust museum, the reason was to remember my family who died in the Holocaust on my grandmother’s side,” Baruch says. “And I also want to educate Indonesians on the danger of antisemitism, especially the danger of hate crimes.”
Rabbi Yaakov Baruch lights a menorah in the Shaar HaShamayim synagogue in Indonesia. (Yaakov Baruch)
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