Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles

The Museum of Tolerance is located on West Pico Boulevard and is a very interesting place to visit, but not ideal for children of under 12 years old, as some of the exhibits can be very disturbing.

The museum was established in 1983 and is a part of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. It uses multimedia technology, dioramas, interactive exhibitions and two theatres that show documentary films, to help people understand racism in the United States and around the world, with particular emphasis on the Holocaust.

This is not a museum of the Holocaust alone; it shows how racism has stretched back all through the history of mankind. It is centered on Jewish persecution over the ages, with a particularly unsettling copy of a letter written in 1919 by Adolph Hitler, in which he outlines his plans for the Jewish people long before he wrote “Mein Kampf”.

It also deals with other issues of racism towards other people across the world, including the genocides perpetrated in Rwanda, Armenia, and Cambodia. There are personal histories from the survivors of these atrocities which are very moving.

Another part of the museum holds the “Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves” exhibition with the personal histories of well-known Americans. The idea of this exhibition is to spark visitors’ interest in finding out more about their own histories.

Why You Should Visit:
Informative and interactive, this museum was designed to friendly lead the visitors using sensors & speakers and to help those not familiar enough with the history to understand with ease.

Tip:
Make sure you leave enough time to experience everything. You could spend 3 hours and still miss some of the exhibits.