March 2001:
Last week, the senior class took a field trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. I was expecting the typical field trip where we go somewhere, learn a bit, spend time with friends, and then come home without really pickup much up. This trip was an exception to the case. Something about it had me wanting to really learn about the Holocaust, so I went on this fieldtrip with the desire to learn and pick up as much as I could, which is exactly what I did.The trip as a whole was not only a very detailed educational experience but an emotional one as well. Some of the exhibits really made me think, "I can't believe this happened to people." Also, some exhibits like the Hall of Shoes triggered some of my other senses as well. While walking through there, I could smell the shoes, and they didn't smell too good. Just imagine if I had a hard time dealing with the smell of old shoes, how it must have been for the people in the concentration camps who had to bear the smell of human. Whether it is burning human, rotting human or dying human, the smell must have been just atrocious, and they had to deal with it all the time. One witness said that as soon as you got out of the train car, the smell would be the first thing you noticed.
Also, some other things put into the design of the building itself made me think about what happened during the Holocaust, and it made me put myself in their position and imagine how I'd react. Right when we bang, they packed us tightly into an elevator, that makes me think about the Jews being packed into train cars. Also, the videos and testimonials from the survivors were another element of the museum which hit me to heart because I saw the faces of the people who were part of the Holocaust and they described what they saw and experienced. You could see the emotions on their faces as they got into details; one man even cried and almost couldn't finish talking to us about his father.
The trip as a whole was excellent. It was one of the most informative trips I've ever been although I feel like I wasn't given enough time to view everything that I wanted to view. I plan on going back sometime on my own to go through it again at my own pace and take in everything. I'd like to thank the Beth Israel Synagogue and of course the faculty at Lebanon Catholic who made this happen. The trip was fantastic and it informed me so much about one of the darker periods of human history. I will definitely go back to learn more and I will recommend that others who haven't visited the museum to go spend a day there.
F.M.