ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There’s additional security, new artifacts and plans for upgraded renovations at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg.

As museum head Eric Stillman stands in the building’s new lobby, newly installed security protocols are keeping people and artifacts safer.

What You Need To Know

There’s new artifacts and plans for new renovations at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg

The institution’s mission is to honor the millions who suffered or died in the Holocaust and to now teach the inherent worth and dignity of human life

Eli Wiesel Experience will fill top floor of Florida Holocaust Museum 
New Danish fishing boat instillation tells story of hope as non-Jews saved their neighbors after Nazi invasion of Denmark 
GO INSIDE THE MUSEUM: The Florida Holocaust Museum

New artifacts like Thor — a Danish fishing boat that served as a rescue vessel, secreting Jews to Sweden after the Nazis invaded Denmark.

“The fisherman, he was a true upstander,” Stillman said. “And even though he wasn’t Jewish, and he was risking his own life and his family’s lives, and his livelihood, he risked it to help his neighbors to help his fellow country people.”

The boat sits next to the Nazi-era boxcar that transported Jews to death camps during World War II.

“And so that boxcar, which is huge, it towers over everybody, represents fear and death,” Stillman said. “And here it is, right next to the fishing boat, where it’s hope and future.”

The institution’s mission is to honor the millions who suffered or died in the Holocaust and to teach the inherent worth and dignity of human life.

New Danish fishing boat instillation tells story of hope as non-Jews saved their neighbors after Nazi invasion of Denmark. (Spectrum News/Virginia Johnson)

Part of the museum’s plans include a new Eli Wiesel Experience, which will fill the museum’s top floor.

Holocaust survivor and “Night” author Wiesel spent his life as a human rights activist and witness to human atrocities

In 2024, his foundation chose this museum to house his private collection. Already on display, the jacket his wife Marion wore when meeting world leaders and dignitaries.

Weisel’s work mirrors the museums: witness the past of death and hope during World War II and beyond, and use the lessons to make the world a better place.

“And so the contrast is pretty clear, I think, for just about anybody to see and understand,” said Stillman. “It only takes one person, just an average everyday citizen being an upstander to make a difference.”