Wednesday April 22

Today was such an interesting day. After dropping Phoenix off at school, we headed to a Metro station to visit the United States Holocaust Museum. 

Mayo, who had taken a day off work, and Scott came along as well so it was great to have the company.

I cannot say I enjoyed the day but it was certainly one of the most awesome visits to a museum I have ever had. Anyone visiting Washington should also visit this museum, it is not part of the Smithsonian but it is, like the others, free to enter. There are two words that I would use in conjunction with the day - Powerful and Harrowing. The former due to the effect the museum had on me, the latter because of the emotions that it stirred up, I do not think anyone could visit and not be emotional.

There are a huge number of authentic photos and film clips as well as models and replicas of many items/places/events.

There is a book, written in the 1990's called 'Daniel's Story', that tells the story from a boy's perspective, of what life was like pre-holocaust and then what it was like as the family was moved from their home to a Ghetto and then to a Concentration Camp. There is an exhibit that follows through on the story with replicas of parts of his home, the ghetto and finally the concentration camp.

We then went to the Hall of Remembrance, where candles can be lit to honour the dead and the names of the most infamous camps are engraved in stone. There is also an eternal flame lit above earth gathered from a variety of sites.

Our final stop was the Permanent Exhibition and this covers three floors. It begins around 1933 with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, as you walk through and see all the events in the order they occurred you get a real sense of being there. The exhibit is presented in a factual manner without comment, as well as pictures and film clips of events there are quotations along the way from various people involved.

The models and replicas are very true to life and some of them are very detailed. There were maps showing the expansion of Germany and then its decline, these were very dramatic. A whole area across the floors is devoted to a photographic exhibition put together by the resident of a small village and showing its history until it was destroyed.

As we walked on we saw so much information and so many pictures it was difficult to really  comprehend it all. 

The immediate lack action of countries and people to the plight of the Jews is difficult to comprehend but yet understandable in another sense, it is always easy to be wise in hindsight. There was information about life, if you can call it that, in the camps.


There is also an area devoted to the resistance groups in the various countries that were involved as well as the individuals who worked tirelessly to help people escape or sheltered people.. 

Finally, we arrived at the point when Germany was in retreat and then defeated, at this point the allied forces began to enter the camps. There are films of people reacting to the sights and that must have been one of the most difficult and distressing tasks they ever had to carry out.

There is a huge white wall devoted to the people from various countries who helped in one way or another. Many of these were awarded medals in more recent years. The exhibit then goes on to outline the problem of thousands of displaced persons throughout Europe and leads on to the Exodus and a New World.

The final part is about the Nuremberg Trials and, as a student at school, I remember very clearly the hunt for Adolf Eichmann, the discovery of his whereabouts, his extradition, the trial and his eventual execution.

The weather was beautiful at the start of the day but as we left the museum we could see a build up of black clouds. It was also much cooler.

The day finished on a lighter note with dinner at Miller's Ale House, a local Sports Bar in Rockville, I had the ribs (again!!) and they were beautifully cooked. On the way back home the moon was again evident and it is waxing as a bit more was visible. Back home, I took several photos of Armsis, the family dog.