Profile
The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County (HMTC) is an educational and community resource dedicated to teaching the lessons of the Holocaust and building a more respectful society. Through museum exhibits, survivor testimonies, and guided school tours, HMTC gives students and visitors a clear understanding of where hatred and indifference can lead. The Center offers teacher training, curriculum materials, and student leadership programs that help young people recognize bias, challenge bullying, and stand up to antisemitism and all forms of prejudice. HMTC also hosts lectures, films, interfaith dialogues, cultural events, and community conversations that bring diverse groups together, encouraging empathy, civic responsibility, and moral courage in everyday life.
The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County (HMTC) is a place where history meets responsibility. Located on Long Island, the Center exists for one core purpose: to teach the lessons of the Holocaust in a way that helps people live better with one another today.
Visitors quickly discover this is not a quiet museum of distant facts. It is an active learning environment. Through permanent and rotating exhibits, authentic artifacts, photographs, and powerful personal testimonies, HMTC brings the human stories behind history into clear focus. Students stand in front of real evidence of what happens when prejudice is normalized. Adults often realize they are not just learning about the past, they are learning about choices people face right now in schools, workplaces, online spaces, and communities.
One of the most meaningful aspects of a visit is hearing survivor and second-generation speakers. These are not textbook lessons. They are firsthand accounts of resilience, moral courage, and the consequences of indifference. Visitors routinely leave saying they expected to learn history, but instead learned something about themselves. The experience creates reflection and, more importantly, action.
HMTC also offers far more than exhibits. The Center hosts educational programs for schools, professional development for teachers and law enforcement, interfaith discussions, film screenings, leadership workshops for teens, and community conversations that bring together people from different backgrounds. It provides practical tools for recognizing hate, addressing bullying, and standing up for others. In a world filled with noise and division, the Center becomes a rare place where people listen to each other with purpose.
A visit to HMTC is not about guilt. It is about awareness. It shows how ordinary people, not monsters, allowed hatred to grow, and how ordinary people today can choose a different path. You leave with a clearer understanding that tolerance is not passive kindness. It is an active decision to care about the dignity of others.
Many attractions entertain you for an afternoon. HMTC stays with you long after you leave. Visitors come in expecting a history lesson and leave with a renewed sense of empathy, civic responsibility, and hope that each individual still has the power to make a difference.
Hours of Operation:
Mon-Fri 10am-4:30pm
Sat/Sun 12pm-4pm
