The National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., wasn’t pleasant, it wasn’t fun, yet it is something everyone needs to see.
Walking into the museum, everything became 10 shades darker. The walls became black and dark gray, and truly conveyed the sadness of what the museum represents. The museum started off by talking about the history of the Holocaust and how the Nazis rose to power. The visuals and audio were taken directly from archives documenting the war, and just hearing and seeing Nazi propaganda was enough to establish how important it is to educate current and future generations about past tragedy. If you don’t learn from history, it will repeat itself.
I remember walking through the long, dark hallways with artifacts from the Holocaust. There were ripped Torahs from European Synagogues, burned books from Jewish ghettos, and clothes of all sizes that were found in concentration camps. The hall of artifacts materializes the Holocaust. We hear so much about the Holocaust, but when you see it, it feels much more real than just verbal talk. The hall of artifacts leads into a glass room with speakers surrounding each wall.
The room of artifacts led to the most impactful room for me. This was a room about the history of the Holocaust and major events during the period of Nazi power. Babyn Yar, a massacre in Ukraine, had a panel explaining the killings of 34,000 Jews and showing their bodies dumped into a ravine. Multiple members of my family were killed in Babyn Yar, and so this hit close to my heart. The museum went on for a lot more, showing more events throughout the Holocaust.
The last thing I want to mention in the exhibit was the concentration camp train. They had an old cart from a concentration camp that was used to transport Jews from ghettos to concentration camps, and I was able to step inside it. As I stepped inside the cart I was flooded with emotion, as I could feel the sadness radiating off the panels of wood inside. I could envision how a young Jew like myself would have felt if I were here for another purpose, and I thanked God for letting me be here.
The National Holocaust Museum showed me the importance of spreading awareness about the Holocaust and how we can move forward as Jews, united despite our differences. On a personal level, it encouraged me to become a better person and treat others with more dignity, respect, kindness, and be a better person as well as Aleph. The Holocaust has shown us that when there are no good people to fight evil, evil takes over. I hope my experience at the Holocaust museum will inspire you to spread awareness and help us move forward, united.
