Yad Vashem

Today we went to  Yad Vashem. It was by far one of the most emotionally draining days since I have been in Jerusalem. Yad Vashem is a Holocaust Museum that commemorates the victims and those who risked their lives for the Jews.

Both of the field trip groups were split up into three different groups for the tours today. Our tour began prior to the victimization of the Jews in the early 1900’s. We walked through all of the history prior to the Holocaust to make sense of how and why this horric event occurred in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  It was fascinating to hear all of the history and details unfold which led up to the Holocaust. However, when the terrorism of the events were accounted tears began to stream down my cheeks as I read the stories of many of the victims, looked at the graphic portraits of many of the Jews in the concentration camps, and listened to the instructor give vivid details of the events that occurred. At one point, we walked into a room with a glass floor that had shoes covering the floor of the victims who had been incarcerated in the gas chambers. My eyes fell upon a little shoe that could have been from a small child who had been brutally killed like all the rest. As I gazed at the shoe our tour guide told us about how the people were stripped of their clothes and murdered in front of their family members. For a moment I sat there in utter shock and my heart began to race. I ripped my head set from my ears so I would not hear anymore of the horrific details and tears began to stream down my cheeks. I felt so much remorse and sorrow as I looked at these items and thought about their experience in the deathly concentration camps.

At the end of the tour, our last room was the Hall of Names which was a room to remember all of the 6,000,000 Jews or victims of the mass murder. There were pictures hanging in the dome as well as the names of more than half the victims in the books along the walls. Our class sat in silence for a long time as we remembered those innocent people. Later we went into another part called the Children’s Museum. In this part there are pictures of a few children and lights everywhere the room to symbolize all the children who were killed.

The theme of Yad Vashem was "The Holocaust was not the killing of the six million jews. Rather, the Holocaust was the killing of one Jew, and it happened six million times." Going through Yad Vashem definitely was not an easy experience, but it was an important one and I know that it changed me for the better.

         

The Hall of Names

 After the museum we had lunch outside, and everyone ate in silence. We were all still thinking about what we had seen inside Yad Vashem. While I sat there in silence, I kept thinking “Why did they have to suffer? Why did I come to a wonderful life where I am blessed with so much and not them?” As I asked myself these questions the thought came to me that I was blessed with so much so that I can bless the lives of others for “where much is given much is required”. Even though I do not understand why they had to suffer and go through everything, I do know that I must use the blessings and talents that I have been given to bless the lives of others.