Marc Cave steps down as director of National Holocaust Museum

Britain’s only dedicated Holocaust museum has announced that director Marc Cave is to step down from the Nottinghamshire-based education centre at the end of March, following six years of leadership.

The National Holocaust Museum, originally called Beth Shalom, the House of Peace, was founded by non Jewish brothers James and Stephen Smith, along with their mother, Marina Smith, in 1995 following a visit to Yad Vashem in Israel.

Cave served as a trustee at the museum for four years before being appointed interim chief executive in 2019. He has since led the museum through the challenges of the Covid pandemic, national lockdowns, the cost of living crisis, and the impact of events following 7th October 7th 2023.

With a new chair of trustees (Adam Dawson) and governance structure now in place, and major £5 million site innovations at the museum completed, a spokesperson said Marc “decided that this is the right time to move on. He does so knowing that the museum is in a strong and confident position.”

A well respected marketing industry entrepreneur, Marc Cave was instrumental in overseeing the museum’s new AI and VR platforms, the expansion and upgrade of the acclaimed immersive exhibition ‘The Journey’ (story-based experiences about the Nazi persecution of the Jews through the eyes of a ten-year old boy in Berlin); ‘The Vicious Circle’ (an international touring exhibition exploring anti-Jewish pogroms that ran in January 2025) and the Racism Response Unit, (which provides free training courses to help company staff recognise and act on anti-Jewish racism), together with a forthcoming partnership with Google Arts & Culture.

In its statement, the museum describes Cave as “a passionate advocate” for its mission and “an outstanding champion of its survivor community, playing an integral role in supporting their continued and inspiring work.”

Abi Levitt has been appointed interim chief executive and will begin a handover period in March, leading the museum for the remainder of the year while a recruitment process is undertaken to appoint a permanent director, expected to be in post from the start of 2027.

Chair of Trustees Adam Dawson said: “Marc has brought enormous passion and a wonderful creative flair to the museum. We are deeply grateful for his tireless work and wish him every success in the future.”

In response, Marc Cave sent a “big thank you to the colleagues and generous supporters who believed, and who made the transformation possible. My awe as always for Stephen, James and the late Marina Smith, whose creation is unique. And special thanks to the Holocaust survivors who have taught me to always cultivate the garden of hope.”

He added that on the museum’s 30th anniversary, he hoped “the way we’ve contemporised Holocaust Education here has helped Beth Shalom truly blossom into the National Holocaust Museum. The strategic shift is vital for the new Britain we are educating — moving from teaching the Holocaust as pure history, to using it to tackle the dogmas of here and now.

“May we all keep on learning from the heart-warming Judeo-Christian bond that makes the National Holocaust Museum so special. May empathy and allyship flourish. May critical thinking repel anti-Jewish conspiracy thinking — the evil which caused the Holocaust and rampages once more. Long live the Smiths’ beautiful baby.”