Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.

The most significant site of the Holocaust, Auschwitz was a complex of 48 concentration and extermination camps, at which 1,000,000 Jews—and tens of thousands of others—were murdered. This groundbreaking exhibition explores the dual identity of the camp as a physical location—the largest documented mass murder site in human history—and as a symbol of the borderless manifestation of hatred and human barbarity.

Ruth Grunberger, determined to survive and to have a head of hair again one day, made this comb (left) for herself at Auschwitz using stolen scrap metal and wire.

It brings together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from institutions and museums around the world. Included are personal items—suitcases, eyeglasses, shoes and more—that belonged to survivors and victims. Concrete posts that were part of the fence of the Auschwitz camp; fragments of an original barrack for prisoners; an original German-made Model 2 freight wagon used for the deportation of Jews. At the Museum of the Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, through January 3, 2020. Then it tours other cities around the world. mjhnyc.org