Dubai’s Holocaust Memorial Exhibition reveals the Arabs and Muslims who risked their lives during WWII

The first Holocaust Memorial Exhibition in the history of the Middle East has opened in Dubai.

The “We Remember” exhibition has opened at the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum. IT holds first-hand testimonies from Holocaust survivors, and with enough interest will find a permanent home in the emirate.

“Although most people in the Middle East know the Holocaust took place, they do not speak or learn about it as much. Now, the region is opening up, and this exhibition gives tribute to what has happened and demonstrates the public recognition of history,” Rabbi Elie Abadie, senior rabbi at the Jewish Council of the Emirates, told CNN, saying that it was hugely significant as nothing previously had ever been staged in the Middle East region.

Apart from the Holocaust exhibition, the museum also has art produced by multiple civilizations and cultures spanning several centuries.

Ahmed Obaid Almansoori an Emirati, founded the private museum, working with curator Yael Grafy to capture the horrors of the historical event.

““The Holocaust was a crime against humanity. And when you have an event like that, you must separate it from other events. A museum is not a political place, it’s a journey through history,” says Almansoori.

“This is like a dictionary of the Holocaust. You learn things you wanted to know about the Holocaust, but you never dared to ask, such as ‘What is a death camp?,’ ‘Did the Nazis plan to murder Jews from the beginning of the regime?,’ and ‘What does Final Solution mean?'” says Grafy.

“I congratulate the UAE for its policy of tolerance. The way of intolerance is not the right way. It will lead to great suffering, even to catastrophe. Take it from a German,” said the German Ambassador to the UAE Peter Fisher at the opening.

A life-sized image of a young boy, “Warsaw Ghetto boy” lies at the center of the exhibition, surrounded by weapons from the war.

“1.5 million kids died in the Holocaust during World War II,” says Grafy. “We are trying to show that every kid had a story.”

Testimonies are included from survivors and victims’ families to provide a more personal understanding of the Holocaust. Included are testimonies from Srul Farkas, Yashka Glass, and Dr. Mojzis Woskin-Nahartabi – an Arabic teacher in the Theresienstadt Ghetto in Czechoslovakia.

Perhaps most uniquely, the exhibition also includes a section dedicated entirely to Arabs and Muslims who helped saved Jews during the holocaust.

“When people talk about the Holocaust and the Arab world, there are a lot of different interpretations,” Almansoori says. “We have so many good stories about Arabs and Muslims helping Jews over time, and that’s the positive side people don’t know about that we want to educate them on.”

Many Jews went to Albania as refugees in 1943, and the Muslim-majority country welcomed them with open arms.

“Albania is the only country in which the number of Jewish people was actually going up after the Holocaust.” Grafy says.

Also included are Selahattin Ülkümen – the Turkish diplomat who saved the Jews of Rhodes from deportation; and Dr. Mohammed Helmy – recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, at Yad Vashem Memorial.

Dr. Helmy saved several Jews including a woman named Anna Boros. This story has a special local connection – as Rabbi Yehuda Sarna of the UAE Jewish community is related to Anna’s daughter Carla, through his wife’s family.

The museum was able to acquire rare items that tell this incredible story firsthand – such as the document stating Boros had become a Muslim, thereby saving her.