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New exhibition
To celebrate the history of music in Jewish life – and Jewish life in music – the Sydney Jewish Museum is presenting a new exhibition called Jukebox Jewkbox! A Century on Shellac and Vinyl.
See the iconic record covers and listen to songs by chart toppers like Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Blondie, Leonard Cohen, Carole King and Amy Winehouse.
Exhibition now open. Find out more -
The Holocaust
Located over three levels, this exhibition traces the persecution and murder of European Jews from 1933 to 1945.
The exhibition also recounts the new lives forged by Holocaust survivors following their arrival in Australia and their contribution to the rich, multicultural fabric of contemporary Australian life. Find out more -
Professional Programs
Give your staff a soul-stirring experience with a tailored Professional Development program at the Museum.
Developed over 20 years, the programs can cover a range of areas including leadership, personal responsibility, empathy, ethics, inclusion and diversity. Find out more -
HSC Study Days
The Museum’s HSC Modern History In-Depth Study Days provide an opportunity for current Year 12 HSC students to deepen their understanding of syllabus key features, historiography, and oral testimony skills.
Find out more
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SJM Voices app
SJM Voices is a custom curated app that uses an internal global positioning system to bring testimony and story of the Holocaust and World War II into the present within the Museum’s walls.
Find out more
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Holocaust and Human Rights
This exhibition traces the history of human rights and focuses on major human rights issues in Australia. Using digital technologies and interactive spaces, this exhibition invites visitors to challenge their perceptions and reflect on topics that may prove irresolvable.
Find out more
View All
Exhibitions
Now open
Jukebox Jewkbox! A Century on Shellac and Vinyl
To celebrate the history of music in Jewish life – and Jewish life in music – the Sydney Jewish Museum is presenting ‘Jukebox Jewkbox! A Century on Shellac and Vinyl’.
Visitors will be taken on a journey of the senses through tunes from cantorial to punk genres, and walls of hundreds of vibrant record covers, to unfold a surprising history of a universal language.
Permanent exhibition
The Holocaust
Located over three levels, this exhibition traces the persecution and murder of European Jewry from 1933 to 1945 and explores the contemporary and ongoing resonance of these unprecedented events.
The exhibition also recounts the new lives forged by survivors following their arrival in Australia and their contribution to the rich, multicultural fabric of contemporary Australian life.
Lena Goldstein, 1919 - 2019
“Every time I speak about the Holocaust there’s a moment where I can’t talk anymore. I don’t know why. I always thought that if you talk so many times about something it becomes normal. But it doesn’t.”
Lena Goldstein fought against the Germans in any way she could, and was recruited by the Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. Lena escaped the Ghetto in 1943 and survived hiding in an underground bunker with the help of a Polish caretaker. Lena was involved in the Sydney Jewish Museum since its inception, and for the last 12 years told her story to student and adult visitors, with a passion to continue to teach the lessons of one of the darkest periods of history. Lena’s legacy will live on in the Museum.
'If I survive' is a biography of Lena Goldstein's life written by author Barbara Miller, which was launched earlier this year at the Museum.
Learn MoreBecome a Museum Member
Become a member
Members are the backbone of the Sydney Jewish Museum. Their generosity plays a vital role in helping us give history a voice.
As a Museum Member you will benefit from free entry into the Museum all year round for yourself and a guest, a 10% discount in the Museum shop and will BE A VOICE for inclusion, tolerance, respect, empathy and human dignity.
Browse our Education Programs online
We have just launched our new Education Programs online portal, where teachers can browse our wide range of innovative programs for primary and secondary students.
All education programs are linked to NSW Education Standards Authority syllabus outcomes.
Search our programs by year level and subject to choose the perfect program to suit your students.
Visit Education Programs pageTeacher training
NESA-approved events bringing teachers together
The Sydney Jewish Museum offers regular professional development seminars for teachers, and the opportunity to engage with other teachers at our Teachers' Network events, which are held four times a year at the Museum.
Teachers' Facebook group
Join our Facebook group just for teachers
Connect with fellow teachers and Museum educators to build a conversation about teaching history and the Holocaust in the classroom.
Join our new SJM Learning group on Facebook to continue to conversation online.
Discover more
SJM blog
Music personalities: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator
May 24, 2019
This blog piece is the second of the series of conversations between our Curator of Collections Shannon Biederman and Assistant Curator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Damian …
Music technologies: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator
May 23, 2019
Our Curator of Collections Shannon Biederman sat down with Assistant Curator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Damian McDonald, to talk about music technologies and how our new …
Survivor Portraits – Peter Halas
May 1, 2019
Survivor Portraits – Peter Halas This month, we introduce Holocaust child survivor Peter Halas. Peter was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1939. Peter and his mother went into hiding with …
The making of our Holocaust and Human Rights exhibition
Our new human rights exhibition, ‘The Holocaust and Human Rights’, was developed to provoke engagement with contemporary human rights issues in Australia against the backdrop of the Museum’s Holocaust exhibition. This extension of our Holocaust content aimed to bring the Museum into the national and global conversation about human rights.
The exhibition takes as its starting point the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which was deemed necessary following the criminal acts of genocide perpetrated against civilians by the Nazis in the 1940s. The exhibition brings this content into a contemporary context to encourage visitors to connect with current issues and learn about all facets of the human rights violations, successes and debates.
The exhibition was researched and developed by a team of academics, educators, curators and designers over three years, with the assistance and support from a grant from the Australian Research Council. The 'Holocaust and Human Rights' was officially opened by Australian Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow in February 2018
Exhibition details
SJM Voices app
The Sydney Jewish Museum’s free app, SJM Voices, offers the opportunity to listen to the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, perpetrators, witnesses and experts. Listen to the voices of history on your device as you move through the Museum.
SJM Voices is a custom curated app that uses an internal global positioning system to bring testimony and story of the Holocaust into the present within the Museum’s walls.
Drawing on the Museum’s rich repository of survivor testimony, the app embeds survivor narrative alongside stories from perpetrators and witnesses. The app delivers personal and multi-perspective insight into this turbulent period of history.
Once you’ve visited the Museum and used the app, email yourself a record of your journey.
You can download the app to your iPhone ahead of time via the link below. If you have an Android phone, pick up a compatible device at admissions upon arrival at the Museum.
Please note, the SJM Voices app only works in the Museum.
Download SJM Voices Plan Your Visit
What’s On Newsletter
Keep up to date on all Museum events and exhibitions.