I really enjoyed the Holocaust museum visit, I think it’s the most put together museum I’ve ever seen. I love how it’s told chronologically, you can see the events unfold. The museum made me feel all kinds of emotions.. The fear as the Nazi party came to power and the devastating horror of the concentration camps, as well as the relief when the concentration camps were liberated. I tried to see myself in the shoes of the Jewish, but it was incredibly painful and saddening. It’s hard to believe that someone is capable of such genocide.. How does it reach this point? And how can we stop this from repeating? I feel like right now, people are overlooking similar events in different nations, just because it’s not exactly like the Nazi regime doesn’t mean it’s not important. Nations should be more involved so history doesn’t repeat itself, we should feel obligated to do something so we don’t have to go through another world war. So many people are suffering and the public just turns a blind eye. I know it’s easier to ignore since it doesn’t affect us, but what if one day it does. What would we do then? That reminds me of a quote I saw at the museum:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out– because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out– because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the jews, and I did not speak out– because I was not a jew. Then they came for me– and there was no one left to speak for me.”
– Martin Niemoeller
I think we as people are too comfortable in our lives, that we don’t really see what’s happening outside of us. Other people’s sufferings do not concern us because they feel too far away. But anyways I digress, the museum was really powerful. I almost cried reading some of the survivors’ quotes.
“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 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.”
– Elie Wiesel, Night
I remember reading Night in high school, it was very moving and the museum helped me relive the book. I’m grateful that our school gave us the opportunity to understand victims of the Holocaust, I know that in history class, we really gloss it over. We mainly focused on the rise of the Nazi regime and World war 2, not exactly the Holocaust and its effect on millions of Jews and their families. Although I can’t relate to the horrific events that happened in the Holocausts, I can try to understand how they felt. The pain, the hopelessness, the suffering.. It’s all that we can do so we don’t forget the suffering they endured.