Exhibition: Between Life and Death. Stories of Rescue during the Holocaust (United Nations Headquarters, until 20 February 2026)

Redakcja / Editorial staff, 16 January 2026

From 15 January to 20 February 2026, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) will present the exhibition “Between Life and Death. Stories of Rescue during the Holocaust” at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, with the support of the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations. The exhibition is part of programme organized by the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme to mark the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The official opening of the exhibition will take place on 28 January at 6:00 p.m. On 29 January at 6:00 p.m., we invite you to a reception followed at 7 p.m. by a panel discussion titled “Holocaust Remembrance Today – A Living Responsibility” at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the Center for Jewish History, organized in partnership with the Sousa Mendes Foundation, and as part of the programme of the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme. The panel comprises Holocaust survivor Elżbieta Ficowska and historians Jay Winter, Mordecai Paldiel and Daniel Blatman. Jayashri Wyatt, United Nations Education Outreach Section, moderates.

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Exhibition: Between Life and Death. Stories of Rescue during the Holocaust, United Nations Headquarters, New York, 15 January – 20 February 2026
Discussion: „Holocaust Remembrance Today – A Living Responsibility”,
29 January 2026 at 6:00 p.m., YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York

About the Exhibition

Risking one’s own life to save another person is one of the most extraordinary acts of courage. The exhibition Between Life and Death. Stories of Rescue during the Holocaust pays tribute to those who, during the Second World War – despite the threat of imprisonment, deportation, or death – chose to help persecuted Jews. By combining the stories of rescuers and survivors, the exhibition shows the complexity of human relations under the extreme and varied circumstances of the war, placing each story within a broader historical context. This approach allows visitors to better understand the local conditions that shaped the possibilities for survival and assistance. One of the aims is to demonstrate that decisions to help, taken for example in Warsaw and in Paris, were fundamentally different in nature.

The exhibition presents stories of rescuing Jews from thirteen European countries (Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Italy, and Estonia), highlighting the experiences of both rescuers and survivors. One of the panels is dedicated to diplomats from Poland, Japan, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark, who were active in Germany, France, Hungary, Lithuania, and Switzerland.

Partners

The project was prepared by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) in cooperation with POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw and the Silent Heroes Memorial Centre in Berlin. The exhibition was first presented at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels in January 2018. Since then, it has been displayed in numerous locations across Europe and Japan, including Amsterdam, Bratislava, Vilnius, Budapest, Bucharest, Bern, Dresden, Osaka, Yokohama, Tsuruga, Gifu, Szczecin, Gdańsk, Strasbourg, Bad Ischl, and Dublin. The presentation at the United Nations Headquarters in New York will be the exhibition’s first showing in North America.

More information about the exhibition and its previous presentations is available at ENRS website.