Holocaust Memorial Museum
The experience that gave me the most pause for thought occurred not at the museum itself but during a conversation I had the week prior to visiting. I was talking with one of my FYI co-workers, and when I told her I was going to the Holocaust Memorial she told me she'd never gone, and wasn't sure she wanted to. She didn't give many details, but she alluded to the fact the older generation of her family was Jewish and involved in the Holocaust, and she didn't think she could emotionally handle visiting the exhibit. This revelation stopped me short.
I'd never given it much thought, but I must have implicitly assumed that those of Jewish heritage would want to visit the place built specifically to remember and honor all those lost during the genocide. Of course, I'm sure they're certainly happy such a place was built, as my co-worker said she was, but I hadn't really thought about the other emotions visiting such a place would invoke. |
This brief conversation gave me a new appreciation going into my visit. Some of the images and videos displayed in the exhibits were quite graphic, and it made me reflect greatly on my co-worker's wisdom in not wanting to visit, since while I might see a lot of faceless dead, she might be seeing a family member instead. |
Below right: The photographs were taken between 1890–1941 in Eishishok, a small town in what is now Lithuania. In 1939, the town's Jewish population was 3,500. Today, no Jews remain.
I have to admit, I did experience a bit of disappointment. This was not the museum from Night at the Museum. That was the American Museum of Natural History, in New York City. I must make it to NYC now someday to see Rexy, the Tyrannosaurus Rex!!
That was just a minor setback though. Even thought this museum did not have movie props, it did have a fabulous gem stone collection. Behold: