Illinois Holocaust Museum Opens Satellite Location in Downtown Chicago

Marc Vitali | August 25, 2025, 6:26 pm

Experience360, the first satellite location for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, opens to the public Tuesday. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

“Hatred is such a useless emotion. If you lead with love, you get a lot further.”
– Holocaust survivor Rodi Glass

Rodi Glass on Monday joined other survivors along with Gov. JB Pritzker and community leaders for the opening of Illinois Holocaust Museum’s first satellite location.

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Experience360 is the first satellite branch for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, which is currently under renovation. The new space in River North, just steps from Marina Towers, opens to the public Tuesday.

Long before he was an elected official, Pritzker advocated to build the Illinois Holocaust Museum. He told the audience gathered Monday that leading the effort was “one of the most meaningful experiences of my entire life.”

Museum CEO Bernard Cherkasov spoke of the time when Nazis sought to march in Skokie: “Our founders did not respond with violence or silence. They responded by organizing, educating and ultimately by creating this institution.”

Promising a “panoramic view through history and truth,” the museum presents interactive holograms and a truly memorable virtual reality experience.

Rodi Glass speaks to the news media on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, at Experience360, a satellite location for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

At the opening, the VR Theater showed a film about Glass, a personable and eloquent woman who related her family’s story of surviving the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. During the 15-minute movie, visitors wear headsets for a 360-degree experience of Glass’ memories of life in war-torn Europe. It’s deeply moving, life-affirming and should not be missed.

Glass’ story is just one of five films in the VR experience. They will be rotated on a weekly basis.

“Stories of Survival” is a hologram presentation that lets visitors “speak” with survivors. Using voice recognition technology, the holograms can answer a wide range of questions about survivors’ experiences. One of the people featured in the holograms is a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Another survived a mass killing of Indigenous people in Guatemala.

Pritzker noted that the museum recognizes “all those who’ve been targets of authoritarian genocide.” Especially, he added, as “we find ourselves facing down a rising tide of hate, antisemitism and authoritarianism at home and across the world.”

“It’s a legacy built on unwavering belief and the power of our survivors’ stories,” said Kelley Szany, senior vice president of education and exhibitions at the museum. “It’s our most powerful tool against ignorance and hatred.”

The satellite branch also features key artifacts, mementos and photographs from the museum collection, all of which complement and illustrate the stories.

The River North satellite branch features key artifacts, mementos and photographs from the museum collection. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

“In Illinois,” Pritzker said, “we care deeply about making sure the message of the Holocaust Museum gets to the next generation and the generations after.”

The governor also relayed the words of Elie Wiesel at the opening of the Skokie museum in 2009: “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. Never.”

“This is not just a building — it’s a declaration,” Szany said. “It’s an immersive space that brings the power of testimony, the innovation of technology, and the urgency of our mission to new audiences. It’s a place where history is not simply read in a book but felt in our hearts and minds. … It’s a place where witnesses from the past can be our guides to the future.”

Experience360 opens Tuesday. It’s located within the Shapiro Family Foundation Center at 360 N. State St. and will be there for at least one year.