Holocaust Memorial Museum - Washington DC
The Holocaust Memorial Museum – Remembering. The Holocaust was one of the most terrible events to occur in all of human history. More tragic than any accident of act of nature, the Holocaust was perpetrated on human beings by human beings and stands as a testament to the savagery that comes from unbridled hatred. The Holocaust was nothing short of genocide, the attempted extermination of an entire race of people. The Holocaust Memorial Museum stands in stark remembrance of this hellish time.
Why choose to immortalize the memory of a time when millions perished in gas chambers and work camps? Why preserve the memory of such inimitable hatred? The museum was erected as a memorial, true. However, it also stands as a warning, as a living memory of what true evil and hatred are capable of and what the rule of tyranny can do. The ultimate goal of the museum is to foment better racial relations between all peoples, as well as strengthening democracy and ensuring human dignity. It stands so that we may never forget what comes through evil.
More than 25 million visitors have entered the Holocaust Memorial Museum since its opening in 1993, making it one of the most visited places in the US. Each of those visitors takes home a little piece of the horror with them. However, they also take home the knowledge that evil can ultimately be defeated if the peoples of the world stand united in fellowship. The museum exists for many purposes; to honor the memory of those slaughtered, to provide a ruler against which atrocity can be measured and to help keep the memory alive of a time when a human life was worth less than a handful of soil. Today, the museum stands a solemn memorial with a solemn duty.
The museum is much more than a building filled with dusty relics. Perhaps in defiance of the reason for the museums creation, it was made as a celebration of life and the human spirit. It was created to show the wonders that can be accomplished through cooperation and tolerance, rather than through prejudice and killing. Beyond this, the museum is home to numerous programs designed to help and form the future leaders of the nation. Diplomats, police officers, foreign dignitaries and schoolchildren all find a lesson in these halls, each of them commits that lesson to heart and carries it home.
100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl. SW
Washington,DC 20024
P:202-488-0400
I know there's a tour of the Holocaust Museum given by Rabbi Hanoch Teller. I understand that it's a very in-depth tour and well worth taking. Also, I just found out that he has a blog about the holocaust (In fact, it was going to his site to read his blog that I found out that he does a tour. Subsequent searching led me to comments about it being very worthwhile).