Fort Ontario WWII Holocaust Refugee Shelter Exhibit

The museum features exhibits, videos, photographs, and artifacts interpreting the history and significance of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter which served as the only camp for mostly Jewish Holocaust victims in the United States during WWII. Visitors will learn how Oswegonians became the first Americans to meet the victims of the Nazi's persecution and became their staunch advocates in a national movement to allow them to remain in the U.S. at the end of WWII. They will also learn how the press finally found a Holocaust story at Fort Ontario that they could relate to and resulted in Holocaust stories moving from the back to front pages of American newspapers. As well, visitors will learn individual stories of people at Fort Ontario who comprised the first group of refugees allowed into the U.S. outside the rigid immigration quota system and opened the door for later groups of refugees.