![Jay M](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Jay_M._Ipson_%28Hanukkah_celebration_2009%29.JPG)
Jay M. Ipson (born June 5, 1935, in
Kovno
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
as ''Jacob Ipp'') is a
Litvak-American
Holocaust survivor
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...
and co-founder of the
Virginia Holocaust Museum
The Virginia Holocaust Museum (VHM) is a public history museum located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The museum is dedicated to depicting the Holocaust through the personal stories of its victims.
History
The VHM first opened in 1997, fou ...
in
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
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, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
.
Life
World War II and immigration
Jacob Ipp was forced into the
Kovno Ghetto
The Kovno Ghetto was a ghetto established by Nazi Germany to hold the Lithuanian Jews of Kaunas during the Holocaust. At its peak, the Ghetto held 29,000 people, most of whom were later sent to concentration and extermination camps, or were sho ...
, established by the occupying forces of
Nazi-Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, with his family at age six. One day, when he and his mother were in line to be deported for execution they were the only two people to survive out of 5,000. After escaping the ghetto with his parents in 1943 before it was turned into a concentration camp, they had to hide for 9 months in the countryside where they spent 6 months underground, hiding in a potato hole. Ipp endured bleak post-war conditions until the family immigrated via
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
to the United States when he was twelve.
Studying and working
The Ipp family arrived in the United States on June 12, 1947. His father Israel, who had been an attorney in Lithuania, found work cleaning bathrooms in a gas station. His mother Edna worked as a seamstress in Thalhimer's department store. To make their integration into American society easier, they decided to change their family name to ''Ipson''.
Jay M. Ipson graduated from
Thomas Jefferson High School and attended the
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
. He joined the
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...
in 1954, serving as an instructor in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He was honorably discharged at the rank of sergeant after eight years of service. A skilled aviator, Ipson ascended to the rank of full colonel in the Virginia Defense Force Aviation Brigade, serving as its commander from 1988 to 1992.
As owner of American Auto Parts in Hopewell, Ipson was active in the
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
and frequently spent his mornings giving talks at local schools about the Holocaust. A friend suggested that he should establish a museum to let people learn more from him. After a discussion with leaders at the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...
, and with backing from financial and legislative leaders, the Virginia Holocaust Museum was born.
Virginia Holocaust Museum
![Virginia Holocaust Museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Virginia_Holocaust_Museum.JPG)
The
Virginia Holocaust Museum
The Virginia Holocaust Museum (VHM) is a public history museum located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The museum is dedicated to depicting the Holocaust through the personal stories of its victims.
History
The VHM first opened in 1997, fou ...
was established in May 1997 in five small rooms at the old school building next to Temple Beth-el in Richmond. Ipson was mainly supported by
Al Rosenbaum and
Mark Fetter. Rosenbaum created the sculpture of the
menorah used in the museum's logo.
But the number of students wanting to attend was rising very fast and so they had to look for a new location. With support of Congressman
Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...
the government of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
provided an old warehouse at 2000 East Cary Street. After enormous efforts the new museum was opened in 2003.
![Defendants in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Defendants_in_the_dock_at_the_Nuremberg_Trials.jpg)
The Virginia Holocaust Museum features tours, programs, lectures, films and other events, and many of the emphasized stories are about the experiences of Holocaust survivors who reside or had resided in Richmond. In 2007, the Virginia Holocaust Museum celebrated its 10th anniversary. On
Yom HaShoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah ( he, יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה, , lit=Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) and in English as Holocaust Reme ...
in April 2008 Governor
Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...
opened the only originally rebuilt Nuremberg Courtroom ("Palace of Justice") in the United States as new part of the Virginia Holocaust Museum.
Already more than 150,000 people have visited the Virginia Holocaust Museum; about 70 percent are students. The museum is one of many organizations worldwide where young
Austrians
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can serve their
Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
Gedenkdienst is the concept of facing and taking responsibility for the darkest chapters of one's own country's history while ideally being financially supported by one's own country's government to do so. Founded in Austria in 1992 by Andreas M ...
(Gedenkdienst).
Publications
*''Izzy's Fire: finding humanity in the Holocaust''
Nancy Wright Beasley (2005)
*''To See, to Feel, to Know: Experiencing the Holocaust Through the Virginia Holocaust Museum'', Elisabeth Anne Custalow (2005)
Awards
![Botschafter Christian Prosl, Jay & Elli Ipson, Adrian Kainz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Botschafter_Christian_Prosl%2C_Jay_%26_Elli_Ipson%2C_Adrian_Kainz.JPG)
*On January 16, 2001, Jay M. Ipson received a First Freedom Award from the ''First Freedom Center''.
*In 2005, he was honored with the Director's Community Leadership Award by the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
in Richmond.
*On May 11, 2010, Jay M. Ipson was the first U.S. citizen to receive the
Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award
The Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award (AHMA) was founded by the Austrian Service Abroad in 2006.
Meaning
The prize is annually conferred to a person, a group of individuals or an institution, which has shown special endeavors for the memory ...
.
Virginia Holocaust Museum co-founder honored by Austria, Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 11, 2010
/ref> Austrian Ambassador to the United States of America Dr. officially visited the Virginia Holocaust Museum to present the award.
See also
*History of the Jews in Lithuania
The history of the Jews in Lithuania spans the period from the 14th century to the present day. There is still a small community in the country, as well as an extensive Lithuanian Jewish diaspora in Israel, the United States and other countrie ...
* List of Lithuanian Jews
References
External links
The Virginia Holocaust Museum website
Photostream Virginia Holocaust Museums
(flickr.com)
*
Jay M. Ipson: Teaching Tolerance through Education
(June 4, 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ipson, Jay M.
1935 births
Living people
American activists
Directors of museums in the United States
People from Richmond, Virginia
Lithuanian emigrants to the United States
Kovno Ghetto inmates
University of Richmond alumni