Museum of Tolerance

The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) is a high-tech and interactive exploration into aspects of hate and bigotry that have taken place throughout the world, as well as an institution that strives to prompt visitors to see the positive change that individuals have created and can be created by them. There are many permanent exhibits as well as temporary special exhibits. It provides many resources and serves to remind visitors of human atrocities throughout the world, both historical and contemporary, and to empower individuals to create a socially just world.

The MOT was opened in 1993 as the educational sector of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, California. Simon Wiesenthal was a concentration camp survivor and subsequently a Nazi hunter, and the center was originally established as a Jewish human rights organization. The museum's development was prompted by the growing denial of the Holocaust's existence and a desire to combat ignorance about the Holocaust. Its initial aim was to provide a reminder of the atrocities of the Holocaust, genocide, and anti-Semitism. It has expanded its focus to include tolerance, multiculturalism, racism, and civil and human rights for all, with an ultimate goal to promote tolerance and understanding.

The core of the museum is its three main exhibits. These three permanent exhibits are the Holocaust section, the Tolerancenter, and Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves. The Holocaust exhibit takes the museum visitor through the experience of Nazi Germany in the 1920s to 1945 via a sound-and-light guided tour. This is done in several ways, such as the visitor receiving a passport of a child who was in Nazi Germany and following that child's story while proceeding through the exhibit. At the end of the exhibit, the visitor learns the fate of the child. The visitor also overhears conversations at a café in Germany and then finds out the fate of the café patrons. This section of the museum includes actual accounts from those who lived through this time.

The Tolerancenter consists of many sections that are designed to explore intolerances throughout the world that people experience in daily life. Using interactive technology, the visitor explores personal responsibility related to bullying, hate speech, and drunk driving. The exhibit takes a historical look at human rights abuses, such as the exploitation of women and children and the lives of political prisoners and refugees.

What starts these and what people can do to end them are examined. Civil rights violations in the United States, Rwanda, and Bosnia are visited, as well as hate that exists and spreads on the Internet.

The third permanent exhibit is Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves. In this exhibit, the visitor explores the diversity of notable Americans. This exhibit is designed to connect people with shared experiences and leads visitors to reflect on their own history and important figures in their lives. The museum also features special exhibitions that rotate throughout the year. There are presentation theaters and meeting facilities available for activities that complement the mission of the MOT.

There are many avenues beyond the exhibits that the MOT uses to promote tolerance, personal responsibility, and social justice. The MOT arranges for relevant speakers to come and share their experiences. These have included Holocaust survivors, hate crime perpetrators and victims, a former white supremacist, and people involved in slavery and human trafficking. The MOT also arranges programs for a wide variety of audiences.

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