The Australian government will spend $6 million to build a Holocaust museum in the city of Perth as part of a plan to redevelop the Jewish area in the suburb of Yokine.
It is slated to include “an iconic Western Australian community facility” with a Perth Holocaust Museum and William Cooper Memorial. The area will also have a day-care facility and a Jewish community center.
The capital of Western Australia, Perth was founded in 1829. It wasn’t until 1892 that the Perth Hebrew Congregation was founded; its actual synagogue opened five years later.
Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said that “it was clear that the center needed a once-in-a-generation redevelopment. Since then, we have been engaging with the community to develop a proposal, and this vision will now become a reality.”
As many as 10,000 Jews live in Perth, which is served by a number of local synagogues and Chabad centers.
