92-year-old survivor urges action against hatred at Adelaide museum reopening

At 92, Holocaust survivor Andrew Steiner delivered a message shaped by experience and urgency: remembrance must lead to action.

Steiner was speaking at the reopening of the upgraded education facilities at the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Andrew Steiner Education Centre on February 19, addressing about 180 guests at the restored Wakefield Street site.

The centre reopened after an 18-month refurbishment backed by a $2.5 million grant from the Australian Government. The works brought the building up to modern safety and accessibility standards, doubled teaching capacity, and laid the groundwork for a major expansion that will ultimately triple gallery space.

But the focus of the evening was not construction. It was responsibility.

Steiner told the audience that Holocaust education is not simply about recounting what happened between 1933 and 1945. It is about helping young people understand how prejudice grows, how silence enables it, and how ordinary people are confronted with moral choices.

“Education is key to preventing hatred,” Steiner told the crowd. He described the new centre as purpose-built to teach about the Holocaust and spark conversations with young people about how individual choices contribute to a fairer, more compassionate world. He called the museum a beacon of light in interfaith collaboration.

He linked recent events such as the Bondi terror attack to government actions and inactions, comparing them to the appeasement policies of 1939 which he said only postponed escalation. Steiner warned that children are not born with hate. Hate is acquired, and he said it is now spreading globally.

Chief executive Annetay Henderson-Sapir reflected on 40 years of dedication by South Australian Holocaust survivors who have educated students about the Holocaust’s lessons. She credited Steiner’s vision and the Adelaide Archdiocese’s generosity with enabling the museum’s establishment in 2020 as South Australia’s only publicly facing Jewish institution.

She said the museum serves as both a history museum and a contemporary centre confronting antisemitism and all forms of hate, while preserving records of more than 450 South Australian survivors.

Henderson-Sapir highlighted the flagship secondary school program, where students learn that antisemitism neither began nor ended with the Holocaust, how minorities are turned into the “other”, how acts of kindness can save lives, and how fragile democracy can be. Quoting Pirkei Avot, she said it is not one’s duty to finish the task, nor is one free to avoid it, adding that each session builds small acts of peace and hope in response to global antisemitism.

Talking to JWire, she explained,

“We previously occupied just the lower two floors, with only half of that 125 square metres open to the public. We now have tenancy of the entire building, three storeys, which means 500 square metres of public access. That effectively triples our gallery space and doubles our education space.”

She thanked the Australian Government for what she described as a once-in-a-generation renovation, construction partner SARAH Build, the Jakob Frenkiel Charitable Trust, an anonymous donor, and community supporters. Amid recent tsuris, or suffering, she called the reopening a simcha, or moment of joy, affirming Am Yisrael Chai.

Henderson-Sapir told JWire,

“The energy in the building was palpable. It was incredibly positive. Seeing that bipartisan support for the work we are doing and for Holocaust education was deeply heartening.”

Looking back on the time since the Bondi attack, she said,

“We have been the recipient of much of South Australia’s outpouring of condolences and emotion about Bondi. There is a shared sense across the state of how horrific this event has been for the Jewish community. Hundreds of floral tributes were laid at the museum. Many South Australians felt that moment as deeply as we did.”

Jewish community leader Norman Schueler said the event drew “an enormous cross-section” of South Australian society.

“It was heartwarming how these politicians and other members of the public supported the community and realised our problems and are interested in a more cohesive and culturally aware Australia,” he said.

Among those attending were Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, Governor of South Australia Frances Adamson, Federal Member for Adelaide Steve Georganas, Education and Police Minister Blair Boyer and Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal AO, along with state parliamentarians, interfaith leaders and community representatives.

Boyer spoke candidly about how the Bondi attack affected his family, particularly his young daughter, and about the difficulty of explaining hatred to children.

Segal spoke of a tenfold increase in antisemitic incidents in 2024. She said Jewish Australians are feeling vulnerable, with parents concerned about schools and some students hesitant to be openly Jewish. If antisemitism is tolerated against one group, she warned, it will not stop there.

Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said institutions such as the museum promote understanding and encourage communities to stand against hate. Georganas described the centre as an invaluable venue for sharing Jewish history and stories, urging schools to book sessions exploring the Holocaust’s enduring lessons and positive citizenship.

Board chair Greg Adams said the renovation expands educational reach and provides a well-designed space for the planned exhibitions.

Since 2020, about 3,000 students a year have engaged in programs covering Holocaust history, survivor testimony, ethical responsibility and contemporary lessons against prejudice.

The first of three new permanent exhibitions, focused on the Shoah, is scheduled for the second half of 2026. Fundraising continues for the remaining galleries and immersive displays. The South Australian Government has pledged $500,000 towards anti-antisemitism education initiatives.

For more information on the museum, visit www.ahmsec.org.au.