Jan 15, 2009

Today we went downtown and took a self-guided tour through the Florida Holocaust Museum. As I have been there before (and to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.) I knew what to expect as far as the intesity of the museum. It made me rethink our discussions in class on Wednesday about what a museum might necessarily stand for. I remember one girl proposing that memorials and museums might be in existance merely for our guilt and sorrow for those that lived through or were involved in taumatic and drastic events. Although this may be a part of the reason for some people, I still firmly believe that such monuments are erected as a payment of hommage, thanks, and recognition to those that have made sacrifices and endured such major events throughout the history of mankind. 

To those who may disagree I pose these question:

-How did you feel in the museum today?

-Would you rather that museum not existice?

-Did it not stir up passion and emotion within you in recognizing the horrific events that take place in the world, specifically between 1939 and 1945?

This story deserves to be told, it deserves to be heard, and it damn well better be recognized. Esablished American writer Maya Angelou once said, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you." It is not only a nice thing for us to do in paying respect to those who endure such tragedies, or erect monuments for those who have led us to triumph in the past, it is our RESPONSIBILITY as PEOPLE. How else will we learn from previous generations? How else will our preceding generations learn? We must address and evaluate events such as the Halocaust in an attempt to insure that nothing eve remotely like this will ever happen again. 

Lets all just respect, appreciate, and learn from others.

a group of Holocaust survivors:

No one should ever have to endure things like these brave people have. Thats not what life is about.