United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

As the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, this museum near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. is both a memorial and a museum devoted to the history and legacy of the Holocaust. It opened in 1993 in a building designed by the architect James Ingo Freed, and it now draws more than one and a half million visitors a year.

Visitors encounter the Holocaust through permanent and traveling exhibitions, survivor testimonies and archival collections, alongside the museum's educational programs. Its stated purpose reaches beyond the past: to help leaders and citizens of the world confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity and strengthen democracy.

The museum stands between 14th and 15th streets SW, where the stretch of 15th Street has been renamed Raoul Wallenberg Place in memory of the Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. The museum is also a federal agency of the United States.