The Story of Anne Frank: Mobile Museum of Tolerance makes a stop at NMS

Last month, sixth and eighth graders at Northport Middle School became some of the first students in Suffolk County to participate in a unique learning experience, the Mobile Museum of Tolerance (MMOT), a well-equipped mobile education center dedicated to bringing a message of tolerance directly to schools and communities nationwide. 

Just ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the middle school students boarded the mobile museum, stationed in the school parking lot, for the MMOT’s “The Story of Anne Frank” workshop. 

Unlike a traditional museum, the MMOT does not have physical artifacts or conventional exhibits; instead each workshop offers an interactive lesson using innovative technology, as well as a “trigger film” about the Holocaust or Civil Rights Movement to teach the history of those time periods and how people were dehumanized based on their race and/or religion.

Earlier in January, the Harborfields school district became the first in Suffolk County to bring this experience to its students when the mobile museum visited Oldfield Middle School. Less than a week later, Northport Middle School students boarded a 32-seat bus, sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, to participate in a program aligned with their units on the Holocaust and tolerance. 

During the 45-minute program, students viewed a short film about Anne Frank and learned about the immense struggles she faced. An impactful discussion on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and the resistance followed, highlighting modern-day examples of fighting for civil rights, the roles of upstanders and bystanders, and how students can take an active role in preventing hate and promoting tolerance in their communities.

First launched in the United States in Illinois, the MMOT is based on the Museum of Tolerance (MOT) in Los Angeles, California, the educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which “challenges visitors to confront bigotry, anti-Semitism and prejudice, and to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts.”

Late last year, the Suffolk Y JCC Center for Holocaust Education and Youth Engagement (based right here in Commack) announced that the free workshops, led by experienced educators, would be available for winter and spring 2025. At Northport Middle School, a district release stated, “students participated in discussions aimed at empowering them with the knowledge of the dangers of the past in order to create a better future.”

For more information on the Mobile Museums of Tolerance, click here.