Located in Phoenix, Arizona, our state-of-the-art Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center is a powerful tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity. Through a comprehensive and immersive experience, we invite visitors from diverse backgrounds to explore the complex and disturbing lessons of the Holocaust and to reflect on the importance of promoting tolerance, empathy, and human rights.
Our Mission
The Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center is dedicated to educating and inspiring visitors of all ages and backgrounds, (though focused on middle and high school students) through a rich tapestry of local survivor stories, poignant artifacts, and innovative immersive media experiences. We also engage with the community through outreach programs and public events, fostering a culture of understanding, respect, and social responsibility.
Our mission is to be a resource and to teach about the Holocaust with the goal of inspiring students and other visitors to become advocates who work toward a world without antisemitism, hatred and bigotry. Through interactive exhibits and personal stories, we honor the memory of the 6 million who died at the hands of the Nazi perpetrators and celebrate the resilience and the courage of the survivors.
Our Vision
At the heart of our mission is a profound commitment to inspiring visitors to participate actively in creating a more just and compassionate world. We strive to empower individuals to learn from the Holocaust, to recognize the warning signs of hatred and bigotry, and to become upstanders who stand against injustice and promote human dignity. By working together, we aim to build a world where diversity is celebrated and all cherish empathy, kindness, and respect for human life.
About Our Location
The Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center has a long and diverse history that stretches back into the early days of our city. The center occupies the building that housed the first permanent Jewish congregation in the Phoenix area, Congregation Beth Israel. On April 8, 1920, a group of 38 Jewish residents came together to form the congregation, and on October 30, 1921, local residents gathered with Phoenix Mayor Willis Plunkett to lay the cornerstone for the site. The synagogue quickly became an important place of worship for over 120 Jewish residents.
Built on the site of the Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center will be a state-of-the-art tribute to Holocaust and other genocides’ victims, aiming to foster understanding, promote tolerance, and advocate for human rights. The expansion of the Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center will include a 31,000-square-foot facility that will integrate modern functionality while preserving the historical integrity of the heritage center. It will feature interactive exhibits, event spaces, and educational resources, ensuring it serves as a hub for Jewish heritage and interfaith dialogue for future generations.
This landmark connects the past and the present and is a beacon of Jewish heritage and understanding.
Building a Legacy of Hope Campaign
The Project
The Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center (HFHEC) grew out of a plan by the Arizona Jewish Historical Society to create a museum to preserve and share the artwork of Arizona artist Robert Sutz. Sutz, whose father’s family perished in Nazi concentration camps, began creating Holocaust-related art as a way to pay tribute to honor survivors, liberators, and righteous gentiles to ensure their stories and lessons of hope and resilience are never forgotten. In 2023, philanthropist Steve Hilton expanded this vision, transforming HFHEC into a dynamic Holocaust education center designed to engage middle and high school students, in alignment with Arizona’s Holocaust education mandate.
No time in our lives has been more vital than now to educate the American population, especially young people, about Jew hatred, history, and how following common opinion without exploration of facts and nuances can lead to terrible tragedies.
Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States, but it is the only one of its size that has no Holocaust museum or education center. Our plan is to raise $45 million: $35 million for the building and associated costs plus $10 million for an operating endowment. The building will be a 31,000 square foot state of the art education center on the grounds of the Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center. The Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center will focus on educating Arizona students in grades 7 to 12 by hosting school group tours, lectures and classes and providing Holocaust-related curricula and other resources to teachers. The Center will also offer on-line resources, including links to other Holocaust museums, a digital library, lectures and exhibits. Recognizing the influence adults have on younger generations, the Center will also reach out to residents and tourists alike to encourage adults and families to visit the Center. We expect an annual attendance of 50,000 visitors.
The internationally renowned museum and exhibition design firm, G&A, is designing the Center’s gallery spaces, which will tell the story of the Holocaust through immersive digital multimedia experiences, while the galleries in the historic Cutler✡Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center (Phoenix’s first synagogue built in 1921) will be dedicated to a Jewish Life & Heritage exhibit and include special exhibits that explore historic and contemporary antisemitism, survivor experiences after 1945, racism, other genocides, and crimes against humanity. The exhibits will promote mutual respect and understanding among people of diverse backgrounds.
The Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center is defined by three Jewish values: remembrance (zakhor), life (chai), and repairing the world (tikkun olam). We remember by preserving the memory of the 6 million who died at the hands of the Nazi perpetrators, including the 1.5 million children. We will also celebrate the resilience and courage of the survivors who exemplify the value the Judaism places on “Not Standing Idly By” through being an upstander, never a bystander.
Artist, Robert Sutz:
Robert Sutz initiated his own We Remember Holocaust Memorial Art Project as a way to pay tribute to local survivors, liberators and righteous gentiles and to ensure that their stories and lessons of hope and resilience are never forgotten. Learn more about Robert Sutz and his work.