Holocaust Survivors, Veterans Gather at DC Museum

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is launching a campaign to raise more than $500 million to help keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.

On Sunday night, the museum announced it has already secured gifts totaling $258.7 million for its nine-year campaign. The goal is to raise $540 million by its 25th anniversary in 2018.

The museum says the campaign will fund programs to combat anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and contemporary genocide. The effort will double the size of the museum's endowment.

Also, a $15 million gift from Holocaust survivors David and Fela Shapell will help build a new Collections and Conservation Center to care for the museum's growing collection. Curators expect the size of the collection to double in the next decade.