Bernard Cherkasov
Bernard Cherkasov and his 13-year-old daughter live in Lakeview, a few homes’ distance from Wrigley Field.
The newly appointed Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center Chief Executive and his all-time favorite teen love to bake goods together, particularly croissants. They have already traveled together to 11 countries, covering three continents.
They have heard—from the warm, happy confines of their abode—the delightful roars of the Chicago Cubs’ fans emanating from the Friendly Confines at 1060 West Addison Street.
“Their fans are quite passionate,” an animated Cherkasov, 47, says on the second morning (February 9) of his tenure at the Museum in Skokie.
“Wonderful spirit,” he adds.
It’s late 1989, in Cherkasov’s native Azerbaijan. He’s … 13. It’s not so wonderful in the transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Antisemitism pervades.
Ethnic violence rages.
Young Bernard and his parents, Gregory and Malika, and five other family members flee.
“We left our home and all of our possessions,” Cherkasov recalls. “It had been determined that the risks of staying in Azerbaijan were higher than those of fleeing.
“We got on a train with other refugees.”
First stop: Austria. They arrived on October 10 and stayed for three weeks.
“Our first day, it was beautiful,” Cherkasov says. “The stores we entered were full of … things, all kinds of things. Most of the stores in Azerbaijan, their shelves were empty. We met a kind woman named Ava, who, on Tuesdays at 10 a.m., would welcome refugees to her house and let us choose pieces of clothing to keep. She was an upstander, incredibly giving, one of many on our journey.”
The Cherkasovs then called Italy home for five weeks, tasted food they’d never tasted before, and savored every bite.
On December 14, they enjoyed Day One in the United States, waking up to a snowstorm in Southfield, Michigan. It snows in Azerbaijan about as often as Halley’s Comet appears visible from Earth or Meryl Streep gets panned by a movie critic.
Bernard received a variety of toys and more clothes in North America.
“We found kindness, courage, and conviction from others wherever we stayed,” Cherkasov, still grateful, says.
What he hopes visitors to the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center discover: enlightenment. The mission of the Museum—it first opened its doors in 2009—is expressed in its founding principle: Remember the Past, Transform the Future. The Museum is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Holocaust by honoring the memories of those who were lost and by teaching universal lessons that combat hatred, prejudice, and indifference.
The Museum fulfills its mission through the exhibition, preservation, and interpretation of its collections; and through education programs and initiatives that foster the promotion of human rights and the elimination of genocide.
“This Museum is special to me; its mission is a part of my DNA,” says Cherkasov, who’d established himself as a national nonprofit leader before succeeding former Museum CEO Susan Abrams. “It’s important to educate about hatred and atrocity, and more specifically about the Holocaust and its lessons, because even though it’s history, the lessons of it are as important today as they were at any point.
“The antidote to prejudice, to hatred, is education,” he adds.
In 2022, the Museum generated record-high attendance and gained international attention for its groundbreaking virtual reality exhibition (The Journey Back) and leadership in combating antisemitism and speaking out for justice.
The Journey Back films apply cutting-edge technology to engage visitors on a journey as they travel through concentration camps with Holocaust Survivors who experienced them. The exhibition is a global game-changer, revolutionizing the field of Holocaust memory through innovative technology and transportive storytelling.
Now playing at the Museum is A Promise Kept, which tells a gripping life story of Czechoslovakia native Fritzie Fritzshall, who was 13 when her mother and two brothers were murdered after the family had been deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center.
Fritzshall fulfills her promise to the 599 women who saved her life while imprisoned together.
The Museum will present Don’t Forget Me March 1-March 31. It takes viewers on a journey back to Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Ebensee concentration camps, imparting George Brent’s will to survive in the face of Nazi tyranny.
“The stories of Holocaust Survivors need to be told,” Cherkasov says. “It’ll give you chills, hearing their voices. They found a way to hold on to life, refusing to be led like sheep to slaughter. They fought back, never gave in.
“They also managed, under terrible conditions,” he continues, “to find love and hope inside the camps, one day to the next.”
The exhibition The Negro Motorist Green Book opened January 29 and runs through April 23 at the Museum. It was developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with the award-winning author, photographer, and cultural documentarian Candacy Taylor.
The exhibition reveals how the handbook provided African American travelers with information on restaurants, gas stations, department stores, and other businesses that welcomed them during the Jim Crow Era. Through artifacts, historic footage, and firsthand accounts, the exhibition revisits not only the apprehension felt by African American travelers, but also the resilience, innovation, and elegance of the people choosing to live a full American existence.
“History is heavy here,” Cherkasov says. “We have agency, as citizens, to never forget the atrocities that occurred throughout the world. We, as a Museum, must continue to be a light and to transform.”
Cherkasov earned his J.D. at the University of Michigan and a Master’s in Theological Studies from Harvard University. He practiced corporate law for seven years in Chicago before answering the call to the nonprofit sector, first as CEO of Equality Illinois and later as chief operating officer of Cradles to Crayons, an organization that provides essentials to children living in poverty and crisis situations.
He met the Museum’s full team on his first day as CEO.
“I’d heard all about the team members’ passion, and then I saw it, felt it, while we interacted,” Cherkasov says. “I’m looking forward to celebrating together, to learning lessons together. I’m excited about where I am now.
“I’m home.”
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, 847-967-4800, is located at 9603 Woods Drive in Skokie. Visit ilholocaustmuseum.org for more information.
