Sneak Peak - US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Let's take a sneak peak at some of the places we will visit while in D.C. 

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Photo Credit: www.ushmm.org

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
By Brian Gano

My first experience at the USHMM was during my sophomore year in college on a trip with our Celebrating Diversity Club. A main focus of the trip was this museum.

Entering the museum you feel the grandeur of the lobby area and the peacefulness of the Hall of Remembrance. It all feels out of place... this is a museum, right?

Then you take the elevator ride to the top floor. You are on a journey. The journey begins with the events leading up to the Holocaust and the "Final Solution." As you work your way down the levels you experience the anxiety and despair of families being torn apart and destroyed and the overwhelming evil that took the lives of six million people. By the time you move through the last level and experience "Liberation," you are in need of some time to reflect and remember. As you return to the lobby and the Hall of Remembrance, you have a drastically different view of the space.

As stated, "Never Forget" means that humanity cannot forget that this happened, that this is possible. However, I know that simply reading the history books and seeing the statistics cannot keep the Holocaust in the forefront of our minds. The USHMM is designed to do this; so that all who visit it may know that it is possible for this to happen, but it is also possible for this to be prevented.

Visit the museums webpage: US Holocaust Memorial Museum