Holocaust Museum-Washington D.C

We arrived at the Hyatt put our bags away and then we all walked to the Holocaust Museum. On our way we saw the capitol building... many of us thought it was the white house lol (including me). The day before we were told that we would be going to the holocaust museum i couldn't help but think how Mukiza and Gilbert would feel being there.
I felt like i was dragging myself trying to hold back my emotions as more images and stories of the holocaust lay ahead. I couldnt believe that the world let this happen for so long. I couldnt believe that hate could consume a person and swallow them whole. All i could think was, Hitler brainwashed them but how can so much people be brainwashed like that.. what about their free will and their humanity.. what happened to that. Although Aimee said something that struck, she said that many people didnt want to be part of Nazi Germany but felt like there was no other choice. They would be killed if they opposed but then again some stood strong for what they believed in and strongly disagreed with the Nazi's.

So i was following the exhibition arrows and then turn slightly right and i see somthing on the wall. It looked like a painting of dead bodies but i got closer and it was a painting of all the hair cut off from the holocaust victims. I took a glance down and saw shoes. Shoes I thought of how many people wore those shoes. There were so many. Layers and Layers of shoes piled on top of one another. Then i looked up and there was the quote. I read two lines of that quote over and over. I couldn't stop

"Because we are made of leather and fabric, and not of flesh and blood we survived the hellfire"

Something as small and simple as fabric and leather survived the holocaust but because the victims were made of flesh and blood as all humans are they were exterminated.

And it wasnt like Nazi Germany wanted to "just" murder the Jews, they wanted to deprive them of any sense of humanity they had left. When i stood in front of the shoes looking up towards the quote i felt like i couldnt move my legs, i read it over and over. It was a sad afternoon for me but Gilbert cheered us up, claiming he was in our pocket lol!!!! there is always a bright side =)




jenny Kuleba Exchange 2009