The display is simple: 29 panels that feature black-and-white photographs of Holocaust survivors and a brief message from each to subsequent generations.

But that very simplicity amplifies the impact of the exhibit, “Survival of the Human Spirit: Triumph Over Adversity,” on display now at the Monmouth County Library in Manalapan through Feb. 5.

The exhibit — based on the book To Tomorrow’s Children — was created by the Center for Holocaust Studies at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft.

The exhibit panels have been displayed at four other county and municipal library branches throughout the state since last April. When the exhibit completes its run at the Manalapan facility, it will be displayed at schools, synagogues, and Jewish community centers throughout the state through 2008, according to Dale Daniels, executive director of the Center for Holocaust Studies.

“The center has been privileged for many years to have a group of Holocaust survivors who are dedicated to its mission of teaching about the Holocaust and working to eliminate hate in all its forms,” said Daniels. “Survivors are uniquely valuable teachers. In telling their stories about the destruction of life when hate runs rampant and of the strength of the human spirit to survive against unimaginable odds, they instill in their students the importance of both memory and commitment to a better future.”

Faced with the difficult reality that future generations will not be able to meet Holocaust survivors and hear their stories firsthand, the center embarked on a multiphase project to preserve their message for tomorrow’s children, Daniels said.

Plans for the project’s first phase were drawn up in 2004 in conjunction with the center’s 25th anniversary. A group of survivors who had worked with the center on other projects since its inception were asked to provide 500-word essays that recalled a Holocaust experience that was particularly significant. The essays concluded with messages by which the survivors wished to be remembered. The center published these essays, along with survivor photographs, in the 2004 book To Tomorrow’s Children.

The actual exhibit is the project’s second phase, and consists of the 29 panels that are currently on display, Daniels said. A grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the donor support funded the exhibit, she added.

The goals of the library exhibit are threefold, according to Dr. Seymour Siegler, who cofounded Brookdale’s Holocaust center with Prof. Jack Needle.

“We want to focus on a commitment to humane values, toward the making of a more ‘civil’ civilization,” said Siegler. “Secondly, we want to relate the issues of the Holocaust to present-day issues, such as the chronic diseases of intolerance, bigotry, violence, and fanaticism. We want to enhance the possibility of the power of good prevailing over the power of evil.”

The third goal involves a long, hard look at the photographs on display, he added.

“These pictures are some of our dearest friends,” said Siegler. “The testimonials and messages are excerpts from the valuable lessons each has taught us. At Brookdale, we love them and honor them.”

And each of the 29 survivors has written words of “thoughtfulness and optimism,” he said.

“If we heed these words and teach them diligently to this generation, and the next, and the next, maybe we’ll play a part in changing the world,” said Siegler.

On Sunday, Jan. 7, an audience of approximately 150 was on hand to welcome the exhibit. The attendees included 13 of the survivors who are portrayed in the book and on the panels.

In one panel, Erica Rosenthal of Middletown, who was born in Germany, recalls how she was one of the Kindertransport children sent to England during the war. Her parents were killed at Auschwitz.

“I don’t want to remember and yet I know I must,” she says. “My mind is like a chest of drawers tightly shut. To open them brings back ugliness and much despair. Endless hours on the train, the ominous black uniforms yelling at us. We feel tired, hungry, lonesome, and terribly afraid.

“Suddenly the train comes to a stop,” she continues. “What will they do to us? The train starts slowly and goes a short distance. We are over the border. Freedom! It is my responsibility to tell about the many trains that went the other way and didn’t return.”