Emotional Exhibits
As I was walking through the museum, my classmates and I came upon an exhibit about mobile killing squads. I was about to walk right past it since I wanted to get to the cattle car, however out of the corner of my eye I saw the picture below. As I backed up to get a better look, I was amazed that one photograph could make me feel so upset. The man who was about to be shot knew that he would soon fall into the pit with the many people who had been killed before him. The wall of Nazi solders behind him are apathetic and don't seem to care that they are killing so many innocent people. I tried to imagine what it was like for the man about to be shot and what I would have felt if that was me. I think that the scariest part for me would be waiting to be killed since he knew what would happen. I would have tried to do what the man appears to be doing which is looking away into the distance instead of where I would be buried. Even though we all know that we will eventually die, I would be terrified if I knew that in a certain amount of seconds, no matter what I did, I would be dead. Putting myself in this man's shoes made me feel very connected to the picture and very stressed out and upset to know that this awful moment was the last thing that ever happened to him.
As I was walking to get to another room, I passed a small, indoor bridge called the Hall of Remembrance. The walls in the room were filled with what looked like hundreds of people who were all lost in the Holocaust. Even though I have read many individual stories, realizing that the number of faces and families on the wall is minuscule compared to how many people were lost in total was very startling. As I looked across the faces, I got very angry and upset that they had no idea that they would one day be forced to become one of the 6 million people who would be killed in one of the most brutal ways possible. Many pictures were group shots of friends or families who would one day be separated. Scanning the happy faces and knowing what would eventually happen to them gave me an awful feeling in my stomach. The worst part of this exhibit for me was looking at the innocent children who just happened to be born into a Jewish family and were killed for something they did not even decide. It is so unsettling to know that all of those happy and innocent people were killed for doing nothing. Even though we are all taught to forgive people, I remember hearing one lady in a video played at the museum. She said, "I have taught my children to forgive, but I can never forgive, I can never forget." I agree in forgiveness, but looking at all of these people makes me agree that the people who are responsible for millions of deaths cannot be forgiven.
As I continued through the museum, I saw a crematorium. I have read about the crematoriums thoughout this project, however seeing an actual one shocked me. I couldn't stop looking at it and I felt like there were butterflies in my stomach. As I stood there and stared at it, I felt very nervous and I couldn't walk away from it. Seeing something that was such a major part of the concentration camps made me connect a little more to what I have learned these past months. Thinking about all of the people who went through there was such an awful feeling that I never want to have again. Before going to the museum, I thought that the most shocking moments would come from something I read or watched, however it ended up coming from looking at the crematorium and thinking about all of the innocent people who never came back out.
Historical Exhibits
The cattle cars were the transportation to the camps. Unlike most train rides, they only carried people to a place, but not back. Also unlike a regular train that people ride in, these cars were built for animals. The Nazi's decided that the most efficient way to send people to the camps was to pack up to 150 people in a cattle car that was meant to hold a maximum of 50. This made the trains heavy so the train rides were even longer.
After people arrived at the camps, they walked through the camp gates. The famous Auschwitz gate in the picture translates to, "Work makes you free." This is ironic because the prisoners were forced to work so hard and so long that they died from hunger or exhaustion. Some people believe that the B in Arbeit was purposely made upside down as a sign of rebellion from the iron workers at the camp.
After people arrived at the camps, they walked through the camp gates. The famous Auschwitz gate in the picture translates to, "Work makes you free." This is ironic because the prisoners were forced to work so hard and so long that they died from hunger or exhaustion. Some people believe that the B in Arbeit was purposely made upside down as a sign of rebellion from the iron workers at the camp.
After being separated into two groups, one group went to the showers and the others were sent to their death in the gas chambers. Before they went in, the prisoners were told they were going to take a shower. Instead of water coming through the pipes, gas came out instead. After the prisoners suffocated, they were burned in the crematorium. For many people at the concentration camps, the gas chambers was the last placed they ever saw.