I
traveled to Jerusalem to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. It prides itself as being the Jewish
People’s memorial to the Holocaust as it acclaims the events that occurred
during that time and aims to both educate and impart an understanding of the
horrific events of the past. It is
the center of world for commemoration of the Holocaust and provides a plethora
of information about the rise of anti-Semitism and the Nazi regime all over the
world from beginning to end. The
museum’s name comes from the Hebrew words Monument (Yad) and Remembrance
(Vashem), and that is exactly what it is.
It contains stories, testimonies, and other detailed accounts of the
Holocaust. Yad Vashem is more than
a museum; it’s an emotional experience.
It begins with a video that depicts life before the war on European land
containing original footage showing communities, large photographs, and other
remnants of the Jewish world. It
shows the normality of Jewish life before the war that turned their worlds
upside down.
Turn
left and there is a stark contrast upon approaching the section titled “The
Nazi Rise to Power.” My heart
skipped a beat when I arrived in the room and saw huge swastikas. Growing up it was always an image that stung. I anticipated seeing that sign that I
hate so deeply and yet when it first hit my eyes it was a shock. That one symbol, however, was only the
beginning to a day in which a series of photos and footage would antagonize
me. The early galleries contain
pictures of huge public rallies that spread negative feelings towards the
Jews. Hitler knew there is
strength in the masses, and with the public getting together with Nazi flags,
anti-Semitic sentiments quickly pervaded country after country. Astute quotes and questions to ponder
are posed in the various exhibits throughout the museum. One such quote said by a German Jew, Kurt Tocholsky was, “A
country is not only what it does but also what it tolerates.” When he said
this he was referring to Germany’s compliance in the Nazi regime and
pre-meditated murder, however it can be applied to the countries all over the
world involved in such atrocities.
Many Jews throughout the world had to deal with the struggle of identity
as a part of their particular nation and that of being a Jew.
It must be
understood that anti-Semitism existed long before Hitler and the Nazis. I learned about the Christian Church
and how they hated the Jews for their rejection of Jesus as the messiah and
blamed them for killing him. In
this section, I experienced artwork that depicts Jews as inferior to Christians
that exist in paintings, drawings and sculptures. In these works, Jewish women were portrayed with their heads
lowered and covered. Their eyes
were covered as well in order to represent the Jews blindness to what they
perceived as the truth: the Christian religion. Such artworks still exist in certain places in the world.
Other forms of propaganda
existed such as unthinkable things like a board game. There was one called “Out with the Jews” in which the
players follow a figure wearing a “Jewish hat” which looks like a cone. The objective of the game is to be the
first to bring the figurine to the “assembling point” depicted by a man, woman,
and child with the caption “Out to Palestine.” It’s amazing that people could actually make a game out of
pre-meditated murder and persecution.
It made me sad to think about the cruelty people are capable of.
I
think the most powerful parts of the museum were the pictures and videos. It is difficult to read and see the
humiliation and abuse used not only on the Jewish people but also gypsies, the
mentally ill, and homosexuals. I
viewed pictures of innocents being arrested and shot on the streets, villages
burning, synagogues destroyed, giant boxes of civilian’s belongings who were
forced to leave their homes, Rabbis being taken from their homes and so much
more. The work of artist Marcel Janco
stuck with me. He depicted the
terrible treatment of the Jews in the forms of a Jew under the boot of a Nazi,
someone being killed with an axe, and people being held at gunshot. What affected me the most was seeing
the people talk first-hand about their experiences. One man said he saw the synagogue where he had his bar
mitzvah being burned down. I can’t
even imagine witnessing such an atrocity.
And to him, that was the least of it. From the time he was young, he was beaten for being Jewish.
Yad Vashem definitely influenced the way I feel living in Israel
for the past 4.5 months. Being
here, I have met people from all different parts of the world who have come
together to be here in the Jewish State.
I thought about the fact that although the Jews been persecuted and
expelled since the beginning of time, they have persevered, continued to
flourish, live all over the world, and now have their own nation state. The museum made me contemplate the
idea that the magnitude of the Holocaust would have been lesser if Israel had
existed in the 1930’s. The Jews had no homeland, and now they do. If something like this were to happen
again, they would all come here.
It’s a comforting thought and something for which I am grateful.
