13/11/2025

By Bruce Hill

Portraits of Survival features 16 oil paintings of Holocaust survivors, each created through a careful process of video recordings and photographic references.

A new exhibition at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum is preserving the faces and stories of Holocaust survivors through 16 intimate oil portraits.

Portraits of Survival, painted by artist Anita Lester, opened amid rising global antisemitism and concerns about the fading presence of firsthand Holocaust witnesses.

10/11/2025

Saturday’s neo-Nazi protest on the steps of the NSW Parliament, where hateful slogans and antisemitic rhetoric were displayed, is a stark reminder of why the work of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum remains urgent and vital.

The Melbourne Holocaust Museum reaffirms its commitment to combating antisemitism and all forms of hate. Because when hate goes unchallenged, it grows.

7/11/2025

This month sees the opening of an important exhibition at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum – a collection of large portraits of survivors painted by artist Anita Lester.

29/10/2025

By Gary Max

28/10/2025

By Kerrie O’Brien

Like many artists, Anita Lester regularly enters the Archibald Prize. The work she submitted of Holocaust survivor Abe Goldberg wasn’t shortlisted for the award for portraiture, but it changed her life.

After members of the survivor community saw the painting, Lester received many requests from people who wanted her to paint portraits of their parents or grandparents. The Melbourne Holocaust Museum then suggested an exhibition of the works. Called Portraits of Survival, it features 16 paintings, and opened on Tuesday.

24/10/2025

By Bruce Hill

Dr Breann Fallon’s appointment comes at a critical juncture, with the role of Holocaust education in combating contemporary hatred more urgent than ever.

In a border town called Choszczno in Poland, a young woman was taken for forced labour in 1942.

In the Austrian camp of Mauthausen, a Polish political prisoner endured three years of Nazi persecution.

Neither was Jewish. Both survived.

And decades later, their granddaughter would discover their stories only after dedicating her professional life to Holocaust education—a revelation that speaks to the complex layers of memory, identity, and purpose that Dr Breann Fallon brings to her new role as CEO of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.

“I always knew that my paternal grandparents had gone through something in the Holocaust, but I didn’t actually know what that was,” Dr Fallon reflects, describing a journey that began not with family history but with academic conviction.

21/10/2025

“After a competitive process, the MHM Board is thrilled announce the appointment of Dr Breann Fallon as MHM’s CEO. We have been inspired by her thoughtful approach and genuine connection with people. We are confident that her leadership will not only strengthen our organisation, but empower our teams and communities to thrive.” said Mike Debinski OAM, Co-President.

17/10/2025

We share in the immense relief felt by their families and communities as loved ones return home after enduring unimaginable trauma in captivity.

Our thoughts are with those who are beginning the long journey of recovery and with the families whose loved ones did not survive and we pray for the imminent return of the bodies of those still held in Gaza.

03/10/2025

The Melbourne Holocaust Museum is deeply saddened by the horrific attack at a synagogue in Manchester on the holy day of Yom Kippur. We express our heartfelt sympathies to the victims, their families and the Jewish community in Manchester.

22/09/2025

It is with deep sorrow that we share the passing of our beloved friend, survivor, and long-standing Board Director of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, Abram (Abe) Goldberg OAM z”l.

29/08/2025

Montana Tucker, one of the world’s most influential campaigners against anti-Semitism, says she is thankful but not surprised that Iran has been caught out ordering terrorist attacks in a country such as Australia.

The American singer and dancer, who has more than 14 million followers on social media and who is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, says Iran is the root of evil for Jews around the world, including in Australia.

“The Islamic regime of Iran is responsible for everything,’ she tells The Australian in an exclusive interview in Melbourne’s Holocaust Museum. “They’re the umbrella for Hamas, the Houthis, everyone. All the terrorist attacks that have happened have been under the umbrella of the Islamic regime of Iran, and so I’m thankful (they’ve been caught).”

11/07/2025

We support the call to embed Holocaust and antisemitism education into school curricula across all systems, government, Catholic, and independent – this is essential. The emphasis on curriculum development, practical training, and evaluation reflects the rigor and scope needed to combat the normalisation of antisemitism in schools and public life. We commend the proposed inclusion of tailored lesson plans and training for both educators and public servants, and we welcome the opportunity to contribute our expertise to this national effort. 

04/07/2025

The Melbourne Holocaust Museum condemns the coordinated antisemitic attacks in Melbourne on July 4, 2025, targeting the Miznon restaurant and the East Melbourne synagogue.

06/12/2024

Just one month after the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht – the Night of Broken Glass – in which Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues were set alight in a watershed moment in our collective history, the Adass Israel Synagogue attack is a reminder that we all have a duty to ensure that the past stays as such, the past.

02/10/2024

The museum’s inaugural special exhibition ‘Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto’ launched on 17 November in the Alter Family Special Exhibitions Gallery. The exhibition will run until 30 March, and showcases key documents from the Ringelblum Archive coming from Poland.

18/09/2024

MHM was proud to receive an award for social impact at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) Awards on 17 September for the Hidden: Seven Children Saved exhibition.

10/07/2024

In response to a concerning rise in antisemitism in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Jewish lawyer, business executive and community leader Jillian Segal as Australia’s antisemitism envoy for a three-year term to “promote social cohesion”.