HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL REFLECTION:
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a vast collection of artifacts from this important era. I would like to highlight three important artifacts that stood out to me; the Nazi uniform, the Nuremberg Law book and the Hollerith machine. The Nazi uniform was worn during boycotts against Jewish businesses. This group tried their best to stop the Jews. This hurt the Jewish businesses on a financial basis. When I first saw the uniform up so close it was magnificent to see the Nazi uniform piece by piece. The second artifact I saw was the Nuremberg Law Book. This book was a book of anti-Jewish statutes that sparked the Nazi party. When Hitler saw this book it gave him the idea to restrict the Jews from German society. For instance, after these laws the Jews were deprived from German citizenship and non-Jewish people weren't allowed to marry Jews. It was difficult to believe that these laws were ever written to discriminate people from Germany. The Hollerith Machine was one of the most important artifacts that helped the Germans during this time. This was a census machine used in the 1940s. However, the German's used it to help organize the millions of people that moved around over the country. It was used to identify them being a Jew, writing what camp they should go to, and how long they should live. The Jews would be sorted on tiny cards by name, the country their from, sex, religion (etc.) The Germans wouldn't have been able to keep track of all these Jews without this incredible machine.
The museum also had many artifacts that impacted me emotionally. Three of these were the train cart, the gas chamber door, and the collection of hair. When I first stepped into the train cart that was used to transport and deport the Jews I had a very uncomfortable feeling. The size and the smell were the things that impacted me the most I couldn't imagine 80 people cramped inside the cart when it felt to me as a large closet Not only was there not a lot of space, the smell of the wood was disgusting. I can't imagine what it would smell like crammed with 80 people. The exhibit of the gas chamber door and the gas pellets used to kill the Jews represented a great example of what the door truly looked like during the time. To see the gas pellets was captivating. It was interesting to see the size and what they looked like. The gas pellets are what killed these Jews in the chambers in large groups at a time and was frightening seeing them right in front of me. The last artifact I saw was the wall of hair. The picture was of all the people’s hair stacked up in piles and piles in a warehouse. I was disturbed greatly because the hair grossed me out when looking at it. I was confused on why the soldiers saved the Jews hair. I found out that, they kept it because it made useable felt to make extra layers for the soldiers in cold weather at sea or on the railroad carts. The Germans didn't care about de-humiliating the Jews. They just wanted their fellow Germans to be warm and they realized hair was a good solution. It bothered me because the Jews were seen as things to use and not even human beings. The artifacts that I got to see at the museum in person were tremendous. I was glad to experience one of the most heart-felt museums ever.
The museum also had many artifacts that impacted me emotionally. Three of these were the train cart, the gas chamber door, and the collection of hair. When I first stepped into the train cart that was used to transport and deport the Jews I had a very uncomfortable feeling. The size and the smell were the things that impacted me the most I couldn't imagine 80 people cramped inside the cart when it felt to me as a large closet Not only was there not a lot of space, the smell of the wood was disgusting. I can't imagine what it would smell like crammed with 80 people. The exhibit of the gas chamber door and the gas pellets used to kill the Jews represented a great example of what the door truly looked like during the time. To see the gas pellets was captivating. It was interesting to see the size and what they looked like. The gas pellets are what killed these Jews in the chambers in large groups at a time and was frightening seeing them right in front of me. The last artifact I saw was the wall of hair. The picture was of all the people’s hair stacked up in piles and piles in a warehouse. I was disturbed greatly because the hair grossed me out when looking at it. I was confused on why the soldiers saved the Jews hair. I found out that, they kept it because it made useable felt to make extra layers for the soldiers in cold weather at sea or on the railroad carts. The Germans didn't care about de-humiliating the Jews. They just wanted their fellow Germans to be warm and they realized hair was a good solution. It bothered me because the Jews were seen as things to use and not even human beings. The artifacts that I got to see at the museum in person were tremendous. I was glad to experience one of the most heart-felt museums ever.