The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust asked us to create an exhibition for kids between 9-12 about the rescue of Danish Jews during the Holocaust. Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark not only tells an extraordinary story, but helps young audiences connect history to their lives, understand prejudice's dangers, and recognize their capacity for moral, compassionate action.

The exhibition’s unique narrative weaves together eight personal stories: five historical figures, represented in integrative illustrations, and three fictional characters who are composites representing a range of stories and experiences, rendered through video integrated within physical sets.

The exhibition begins with the story of the Danish Rescue within the larger context of WWII. Stylized timelines and illustrations provide a sense of scope and convey the constant fear, violence, and confinement Jews lived under across Europe.

From there, visitors enter an immersive re-creation of a Copenhagen fish market in the spring of 1942. Our composite characters are embedded in the scene as Pepper’s Ghosts, relating their feelings on the Nazi occupation of Denmark.

In the next section, visitors explore a dioramic Copenhagen streetscape, understanding the mounting resistance activity and the imminent danger Jews suddenly faced in the Fall of 1943. Under threat of deportation, all Jews had to hide or flee Denmark for any hope of safety.

Visitors then enter the culminating theatrical media experience detailing the harrowing passage of escaping Jews across the Oresund Sound, projected against a 70% scale model of the Gerda III. We hear from just one story from the hundreds of civilian vessels, aided by courageous non-Jewish neighbors, who helped rescue more than 95% of Denmark’s Jewish population by ferrying them over water to unoccupied Sweden.

In the last gallery, visitors hear direct testimony from survivors and rescuers, reflecting on their experiences decades later. The exhibition closes with a final inspirational message drawn from the Talmud: “To Save a Life Is To Save the World.”

Much has been written about the inherent challenges of making exhibitions about mass tragedy. It is difficult enough to read or learn about such histories in text. In memorial settings, particularly relating to mass trauma, exhibition design can be even more challenging.

We explored sensitive tensions relating to these questions, and in the process learned how to make source material more emotionally engaging through storytelling, scriptwriting, illustration, set design, and other techniques for context-setting, as well as the scholarship and precedents set against using those approaches too overtly.

We also internalized the difference between immersive and experiential storytelling, which requires a strong sensitivity to effectively realize, and used experiential learning tactics to help young audiences understand complex and difficult subjects.