Child’s Haggadah from Germany Published in 1928 with Illustrations by Otto Geismar

January 27 marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day—a day that honours the memory of the six million Jewish people who were systematically persecuted and murdered along with other victims of Nazi atrocities. In an age of misinformation and increasing divisiveness, Holocaust remembrance and education is ever more urgent. This day of remembrance was designated by the United Nations General Assembly to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the largest Nazi extermination, forced labour, and prison camp.

This child’s Passover Haggadah in ROM’s collection is an object that reminds us of the once thriving and safe Jewish community in Germany. It was created by the renowned artist Otto Geismar (1873–1957) who was an art teacher at the Jewish Community School in Berlin from 1904 to 1936.

Used for the annual retelling of the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt, the Haggadah is especially poignant as we remember the victims of the Holocaust.