About the exhibition:
Stories from a Family Album is a traveling exhibition created from the personal stories and family photographs of Jews who lived through the 20th century—individuals whom Centropa interviewed between 2000 and 2009. Designed like a giant photographic family album you can walk through, it tells the stories of people who could have lived on your street, in your town—bakers and factory workers, teachers and nurses, translators and doctors, administrators and bookkeepers, people who went to school, fell in love, built families, served their country as soldiers, or enjoyed summer vacations.
The exhibition is filled with moments ranging from the happiest to the darkest—stories that will make visitors laugh, cry, and, above all, reflect on Hungarian Jewish history.
The exhibition consists of nine free-standing panels, each three meters long and two and a half meters tall. All images are digitally printed on both sides of the panels. Each panel focuses on a specific theme—such as school, religious life, vacation, or work—offering a vivid picture of the everyday life of Hungarian Jews in the 20th century.
The exhibition is bilingual, in Hungarian and English. It fits into a small van, making it relatively easy to transport and install. It’s well-suited for school halls and corridors, libraries, and cultural centers.
The exhibition was created in partnership with the US Department of State and the Holocaust Memorial Center in Hungary.
If you are interested in hosting the exhibition contact us at budapest [at] centropa.org (budapest[at]centropa[dot]org)
About educational programs:
Centropa exhibitions are not to look at, they are to engage with. These personal stories and fates make this exhibition interesting and unique. The exhibition is available to schools with accompanying peer-guide training. The training is conducted by Centropa staff for groups of 15–18 students (grades 9–12). This interactive, one-day program (approximately 8 hours including breaks) can also count toward students’ School Community Service hours. During the session, students explore key moments of 20th-century Hungarian history, dive into Centropa’s collected family stories, learn about the richness of Jewish culture and identity, get to know the exhibition in depth, and prepare to become guides.
