Dating from the late 19th century to the present, the featured works, mostly by European, American, and Israeli artists, tell the story of the Museum's collection, which took shape on the eve of World War II, while artists and collectors were fleeing their homes in search of a safe haven in which to settle.

The collection grew with the donation of the private collection of Munich-born art historian and collector, Dr. Karl Schwarz (1885–1962), the Museum's first director. Thanks to Schwarz's connections, additional collectors were encouraged to donate valuable works to the museum, and the collection further expanded. One of these was Erich Goeritz, a textile manufacturer and art collector, who fled Germany to England on the eve of the war. Years later, Peggy Guggenheim, Charles and Evelyn Kramer, Abraham Horodisch, and others enriched the collection with modern works from the first half of the 20th century.

The exhibition unfolds as a field of antithetical images relating to memory and oblivion—a response to situations of loss, death, and refugeeism. The works are tantamount to the survivors and witnesses responding to the traumatic sights. Some face them head-on, others escape into the realms of dream and fantasy. The fresh gaze at the collection reflects the need to hold onto valued "relics" that carry hope for revival and a prospect for a bright, safe/secure future.