Holocaust Museum

I took my cousin Brandon (15) to the Holocaust Museum. Neither of us have been, so he was off school and we decided to go.

I was in a constant state of sadness/anger while I was reading through the exhibits. I just can't understand how the world allowed this to happen? How was Hitler able to make people believe these things? How could anyone hate another human being so much that they would do the things that they did? Amongst all of the powerful exhibts, the ones that affected me the most were:

The Shoes:

Just a simple pile of shoes...but more powerful than anything else. I think the power is IN the silence. I just stood there looking at all the different shoes, and kept imagining the people that had worn them. What their stories were, who their families were...etc.

Cattle Car:

Obviously the train that transported the Jews to the camps. You get to walk through a train car. I stood there for a few minutes and tried to imagine what they must've thought as they were crammed in there. How do you just become ok with your circumstances when they are obviously dire?







There were many more...but these were very visual reminders.

I leave you with this quote from Elie Wiesel, Nobel laureate and Auschwitz survivor

Never Shall I forget that night, the

first night in camp, which has turned

my life into one long night, seven times

cursed and seven times sealed. Never

shall I forget the little faces of the children,

whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths

of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.

Never shall I forget those flames which

consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence

which deprived me, for all eternity, of the

desire to live. Never shall I forget those

moments which murdered my God and my

soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never

shall I forget these things, even if I am

condemned to live as long as God himself.

Never.