David M. Rubenstein $15 Million Gift Supports National Institute for Holocaust Documentation

May 02, 2022

UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM ANNOUNCES $15 MILLION GIFT FROM DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN TO SUPPORT THE MUSEUM’S NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HOLOCAUST DOCUMENTATION

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum today announced a $15 million endowment gift from David M. Rubenstein to support the Museum’s National Institute for Holocaust Documentation. This generous gift, part of the Museum’s $1 billion campaign, will provide critical support to the Museum’s urgent efforts to build, strengthen, preserve, and make globally accessible the Museum’s unparalleled collection so that it can support scholarship and education in the United States and abroad. The institute will be renamed The David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation.

“Education about our history is vital for our democracy’s future, and its foundation is the documentary record. David Rubenstein’s exceptional philanthropy for so many American institutions has done a great deal to preserve our country’s and humanity’s historical and cultural heritage. His magnificent gift continues that noble pursuit,” said Museum Chairman Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat. “This commitment is particularly meaningful as it comes at a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion. Ensuring that future generations of students, teachers, and researchers have access to the firsthand evidence of the history of the Holocaust and its contemporary lessons is an enormous gift to the American people, our soldiers who fought valiantly to defeat Nazism, and the survivors and victims of the Holocaust whose legacies will be preserved in perpetuity.”

“The atrocities that have occurred and are still occurring in Ukraine remind the world daily that the lessons of the Holocaust have not been fully learned by those who still have the power to kill others senselessly and those who collaborate with them. So those of us in a position to do more to remind the world of the Holocaust have a moral obligation to do so,” said David M. Rubenstein. “I am pleased to help toward that mission, and encourage others to reflect on what more they might be able to do to help remind the world that the Holocaust might be not just a historic tragedy but also a precursor to what could happen again.”

“In light of the constant assaults on truth and the weaponization of history that our world faces, this gift is particularly timely. The work of the Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation is critical to our goal of ensuring that the public understands not only that the Holocaust happened, but why it happened and that the unthinkable is always possible,” said Museum Director Sara J. Bloomfield. 

The Holocaust was a global event, and the Museum’s David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation is actively collecting in over two dozen countries. It has collections from nearly every country in Europe as well as Argentina, China, Morocco, Uzbekistan, and many more. These historic materials document the Holocaust from the perspective of survivors, victims, perpetrators, rescuers, eyewitnesses, American citizens and soliders, and others. 

The Collection supports scholarship, exhibitions, publications, films, and a range of educational resources. The experts who staff the Rubenstein Institute manage an ever-growing Collection that includes almost 24,000 objects; over 111 million pages of archival documentation with an additional 200 million digital images from the International Tracing Service Archive; more than 114,000 photographs and images; 1,500 hours of historic film footage; and 23,000 oral testimonies.

For more than three decades, the Museum has built its collection and much more remains to be discovered and preserved – from major archives like the Vatican’s, which only recently became available to scholars, to documents and artifacts tucked away in attics, warehouses, and myriad other places in Europe and elsewhere. The Rubenstein Institute is making its collections available on our website and featuring them in digital storytelling, such as our “Artifacts Unpacked” series on social media. 

About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A nonpartisan, federal educational institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance. Through the power of Holocaust history, the Museum challenges leaders and individuals worldwide to think critically about their role in society and to confront antisemitism and other forms of hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. For more information, visit ushmm.org. 

About the Campaign

The Museum’s $1 billion campaign, Never Again: What You Do Matters, was launched to make critical investments in keeping Holocaust memory alive as a relevant, transformative force in the 21st century.

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