There's an infamous cliché that states if you don't learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it.
This weekend, the MSU Museum will give people the opportunity to expand their knowledge not just on history, but more specifically on the Holocaust.
The "Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals" exhibit will open officially Saturday, with a reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring a special program by the exhibit developer, Edward Phillips, from the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
"This is an exhibit about history, politics, sociology, psychology, communication, education, labor history, culture, gender studies and many other disciplines," said Kris Morrissey, the curator of education and the exhibit's organizer. "We can look at the exhibit as a specific story about the persecution of a specific group, or we can look at it as an opportunity to learn from the past about the conditions that may support persecution as a policy, regardless of who is the persecutor and who is the target."
Morrissey said the exhibit will take up two rooms. One room will be a contemplative area for quiet conversation or reflection and the other will showcase the traveling exhibit from the Holocaust museum.
"We hope the public that visits tells us what it portrays to them," Morrissey said. "We will have a comment book and look forward to hearing what the exhibit portrays and means to them."
The exhibit's main purpose is to educate people on the years from 1933 through 1945 when Germany's Nazi government attempted to rid the territory of all Jews, people with disabilities, Catholics, Gypsies and men who were believed to be homosexual.
The exhibit will contain photos, text, prints and other historical documents to tell the grim story of the millions of people sent to concentration camps.
Deena Loeffler, an MSU interdisciplinary social science and women's studies senior, said she plans on visiting the exhibit with her family because she carries the legacy of the Holocaust - she's Jewish.
"This exhibit is a rare chance for people to educate themselves about another part of Hitler's regime," Loeffler said. "Folks who may not feel connected to the Holocaust may now see that there were people just like them who suffered persecution during World War II."
Although many people learn about the Holocaust in high school or college, Rae Marcus, the public relations coordinator for the Alliance of Lesbian, Bi, Gay and Transgender Students on MSU's campus, said this exhibit will give people a chance to see that many groups of individuals were persecuted during Germany's vision of a "master Aryan race" - not just one.
"This is a very important exhibit because I know in mainstream education people only know that Jewish people were persecuted, yet it was more than that," Marcus said. "Hopefully, this will broaden my knowledge even further."
Marcus added that the LBGT community could learn a more detailed explanation as to why LBGT people were persecuted during the Holocaust.
The "Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals" exhibit will run until Feb. 27, 2004, and additional educational programs will run side-by-side with the exhibit.
For more information visit the museum's Web site at museum.msu.edu.
