Monday Part 1 - Yad Vashem

We spent Monday morning at Yad Vashem - Israel's Holocaust Memorial Museum. Yad Vashem has an interesting meaning. Yad in Hebrew means hand or monument. Vashem means name. At the end of the museum is a room filled with binders cataloging all of the victims. 4,000,000 of the victims have been catalogued, 2,000,000 have no names, no records that they ever existed on this planet. 

I came in with strong expectations for the visit. I had been to the American Holocaust Museum when I was in high school, and the power and magnitude of it really moved me. Since I'm 10 years older and this was Israel's museum, I was expecting even more from this trip. With that said, let's break this down into a pros and cons column.

Pros:
The architecture of the building was absolutely amazing. The museum is in the shape of a triangle and is built on the side of a mountain. You can only see half of the museum from the entrance or exit as the other half is on the other side of the mountain. Also, the museum narrows significantly in the middle which gives the effect of being closed in and losing hope. At the end of the museum, you walk out onto a landing which gives a tremendous view of the city of Jerusalem. It signifies that even through all the awfulness, beauty remains and will endure.

Before the tour of the museum, we watched a video of a Holocaust survivor who endured 3 years of unimaginable circumstances at a variety of concentration camps. How this man (or many of the people who survived) actually made it through is absolutely amazing. Towards the end of the story, you learn that he reunites with a girl he met during the Holocaust who was thought to be sterilized by Nazi experiments but was saved by a Jewish doctor who sabotaged the procedures. They marry and start a family. That was his victory over the Nazis and was some really powerful storytelling.

The Reflection Pond was moving to say the least. There are pictures of random victims on the wall in a 360 degree circle. You then look over a railing into a pit filled with shallow water, and see the reflection of all the victims. In it, you see yourself and all the other people you are with which seem to blend in with the victims. It makes you realize - we're all victims from the losses suffered during this terrible tragedy.

Cons:
The crowds at the museum are incredible. You can't look at an exhibit without someone bumping into you or pushing through. Apparently, it's always like this at the museum. The problem is that the crowds make it really difficult to connect with the exhibits because you're constantly aware of your surroundings.

We were taken around the museum by a tour guide. I find 2 problems with this approach. One is that you can't connect to the exhibits at your own pace. You're moving with the group and when they're done, you move on. The other is that the guide made things interactive. He was frequently asking questions of the group, and I just didn't want to be asked questions or listen to answers - I wanted to connect with the exhibits and ignore everything else.

Overall, a tremendous and powerful experience, but didn't quite live up to expectations. I prefer the museum in DC and want to return there soon to take it in as an adult.

Kaps

Song of the Day: Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said