A Guide to the Holocaust Museum

The nation's capital offers a large variety of possible entertainment options. Included in these is an array of museums, many of them free for admission and various others require small sums of payment.

The Holocaust Museum is one of the free museums, but if you were placed inside it with no knowledge of that, you would never notice.

Upon entering, visitors are presented with a passport which contains the identity of someone who was captured during the Holocaust.

There are no tour guides, but a woman directs each group into elevators to begin their voyage through the two and a half floors of the museum. They estimate the walk-through to take approximately two hours.

Immediately upon entering the elevator, a short video is played for the inhabitants to introduce the issue. Once the elevator doors open, guests are standing in front of a large mural of troubling images. Accompanying the images is a variety of quotations taken from political figureheads of the times.

Each floor is separated into a variety of rooms, although there are no clear borders. Instead, there are multiple cases lining the walls which feature objects and videos depicting related content. One of the cases is devoted to children's books published by the Nazi Party. An explanation of the development of these books and a video exploring the same concept are placed in the same case accordingly.

Some of the artifacts include a replica of a stone wall from one of the ghettos. Visitors are taken over a bridge on which explanations are given describing Jewish ghettos and how the Jews were not allowed to walk on certain parts of the street. They had to cross them via bridge.

There is a separate little room that is devoted almost entirely to Anne Frank. Also included are other famous sufferers who have since become renowned.

During the tour, guests walk through a tower which features images taken of Jewish life. Because the tower is so high, it is practically impossible to view each photographs individually, as there are so many.

Another of the interesting features is a room with headphones on which you can listen to the testimony of survivors. There is also a notebook with the transcript of the tapes for your convenience to read along.

In my experience, it would be impossible to fully grasp the vastness of this museum in the estimated two hours. But the time spent there is well worth it. It is informative and eye-opening and the experience allows you to revert to the importance of life and kindness. I recommend this museum to everyone.