The Holocaust Memorial Museum: Some Connection Required

After a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, I came out feeling that I was missing something essential: a human connection.

A few weeks ago, I went to DC on a field trip for my Master’s program. One of the focal points of the trip was the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We had spent one class talking about articles and books about the museum and learning its history so that we would be prepared to study the museum as museum professionals. Quite frankly, I was not looking forward to this part of our trip to begin with, and the reading did not make me any more optimistic.

I am sorry to say that my expectations were realized.

Perhaps one of the problems was the crowds. We got there about ten minutes before the museum opened and there was already a line halfway around the block. Add the school groups to the tourists, and the crowds grew to the point of claustrophobia. This was only exacerbated by the way the museum was designed. The first exhibit space is a long narrow hallway with exhibits on both sides. It created a bottleneck and endless frustration as people stopped to look at exhibits and held up everyone behind them. Maybe I would have had a different experience if I had gone on a day with fewer people, and, if you go, I encourage you to find an off day.

But even the removal of the crowds could not have fixed what I found to be the fundamental problem with the museum: a lack of humanity.

For a museum completely about a people’s erasure of identity, it did a very poor job establishing that identity in the first place. Visitors are taken up an elevator and dumped into Hitler’s rise to power. There is no celebration of Jewish life before the war, no way to connect to these people as people. Without that visceral connection to the victims of the Holocaust, the museum becomes a horror show, or, if you can get past the horrors, a history lesson.

There were only three places in the entire museum that I felt something like that connection. The first was the Tower of Faces, photographs from the Eishishok Shetl (the name for a Jewish village). The exhibit lines a three story tower, looking like an album plastered to the walls, and ends with a startling message: Today, there are no Jews in Eishishok.

The second place was on the two glass bridges over the main hall. The first is etched with the first names of people who died in the Holocaust while the second is etched with the names of villages that were destroyed by the Holocaust. These are easy to connect to: “That could be my name up there,” or maybe “My name is up there” and “That could be my town on this wall.”

Finally, the Identity Cards. Visitors receive a card when they enter the museum, picking from piles sorted into Male and Female. It tells the story of the person in the card as you move through the museum. The cards are often criticized because they wind up in the trash as soon as the visitor leaves the museum, but for me, the card was where I connected most; I spent most of my time in the museum wondering if the person whose life I held in my hand had survived and her presence became a constant companion through the museum.

If you get the chance, go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Everyone should go once. But bring the personal connections with you. Learn about these people before you go. Maybe then, you won’t get wrapped up in the horrors, but rather the loss—of people, of culture, of serenity. And then you can walk out of the museum feeling the truth of their motto: Never Again.

Tour of Duty

Wow. I have had one hell of a week. And not in a good way. I'm good now. For the moment at least. But that's why I threw some plans out the window. But it's okay, because I am in Philadelphia now and thought I would catch up a little.

I started this trip in Washington, D.C., with my Aunt. We had some weirdnesses, but we saw a lot of the Government part of the city.

We started with the National Archives, joking about doing a National Treasure tour. (Oh, that is so going to be a post one of these days. Part I and II forthcoming) They are pretty amazing and definitely work a look, though you won't spend all day, maybe an hour or two.

Then, we headed up toward the East end of the Mall and made a big loop around the Capitol. There is a great photo op on the front lawn. The grass is worn, so it's pretty easy to see where to go. One of these days they should really just put a sidewalk there to save the grass.

Heading around the north side of the Capitol, there is a small brick summerhouse that makes for a cool rest stop if you're doing DC in the summertime (like I did).

On the backside is a better picture and is really just beautiful. But behind the Capitol stands the Supreme Court building. Unfortunately, it was under renovations, so I couldn't take a picture of the front. Inside is worth a look, with a display about the building of the building which is very interesting. The Supreme Court building is much newer than the other large government buildings in D.C. and so there was quite a bit of work involved in making it fit in. There is also a detailed description of the various friezes around the building and who each figure is. That is worth a look if you are at all interested in history, especially government history. Also, don't miss the free standing elliptical staircase, which is unnerving to look at, but oh, so cool. You are allowed to go inside the main court chamber, but only on a lecture tour, which occur every hour or so.

After the Supreme Court, it's just a hop skip and a jump over to the Library of Congress, my main destination for the day. It's incredible. It's so bright! And colorful! I did not want to leave. One of the main attractions, the dome in the reading room is easiest to see if you take a tour. If you don't, you can still see it, but you have to manage to sneak in between tours. You're not allowed to take pictures, and you aren't allowed in the Reading Room unless you have legitimate research. (One of these days...) Also on display while I was there was 100 books which changed America, starting with books such as Common Sense and the Federalist Papers, but also including books such as Cat in the Hat and To Kill a Mockingbird. Beyond that stood Thomas Jefferson's Library. When the original Library of Congress burned to the ground, Thomas Jefferson donated his library to begin it again. Even after another fire reducing the collection by two thirds, Jefferson's library became the backbone of the Library of Congress collections. They have assembled the books from Jefferson's original library, including the many original volumes as well as the same volumes from elsewhere in the collection and markers for books they simply cannot find. It is an incredible display. The books fill numerous shelves in Jefferson's own organizational system. The books are in at least five languages and cover subjects from history to science to philosophy and religion. A Truly Incredible Collection.

There is a tunnel Connecting the Library of Congress and the Capitol building. We took the Capitol tour, which is definitely worth the trip. It's free, but weekdays are better if you can, the weekends can be packed. The tour uses a mic on the guide and headsets with a wireless receiver to ensure everyone can hear. Our tour guide told us right off that we wouldn't need the headsets with him, and he was right. Pictures are allowed everywhere, but don't sit on the floor. It's a sign of protest.

Head out of the Capitol building from the Gift Shop and Visitor Center and head south again for a great photo op. On the corner of the paved area, there is a small offset square with a giant bush between it and the capitol building. On this square is a permanent podium used for press releases. If you are really lucky, it will be set up with microphones for an actual press release, but even not, it is a great place to take a picture with the capitol in the background.

After that we headed down the mall to the Smithsonian, but I'll save that for another post.

"Ask not what your country can do for you - Ask what you can do for your country." --JFK