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timeforchange posted 8/17/2013 19:33 PM

Many thanks to everyone who replied to my message last week.

We are currently in DC and have had a wonderful few days.

Staying in Foggy Bottom.. We have visited the White House, the memorials, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Air and Space Museum, Mount Vernon and Alexandria.

And yes we also visited the National Holocaust Museum.

We started off in Daniels story which was truly excellent. Even for adults it is worth a visit as it gives a good overview of the timeline of events.

Then I asked DS 9 if he wanted to go the permanent exhibition... And he did. He handled it like a champ. We avoided the films "behind low walls"... Although DS 13 watched a couple and was visibly shocked.

The room of shoes and the railway wagon (which you walk through)... Meant the most to DS 9. Visual works better than walls of text ....

Then we crossed a bridge with a glass wall on which were written the names of the Jewish European communities which were completely (100%) obliterated!!! 4 were within a 10 minute drive of our home. That really brought things home to DS 9... As he know these towns.

We finally visited the remembrance room .. And lit candles in the Auschwitz section.. Whilst there we sat and read the stories of the "passports" of people we had been handed on arrival.

By focusing on the very visual elements and seeing an exhibit which relates directly to our daily lives (the lost communities).... DS 9 could relate and was moved by the experience... We have had no issues since our visit 3 days ago.

We actually saw even younger children there too!

I am so pleased we went and it was the right thing To do for our family.
It may not be right for every 9 year old but it worked for us... Am so glad we had the opportunity.

jrc1963 posted 8/17/2013 22:07 PM

Glad it worked out for you.

Clarrissa posted 8/17/2013 23:10 PM

tfc, if either of your boys have diffuculty grasping just how many 6 million is, there's a documentary called Paperclips out there. (I saw it on Netflix). It's about a school in Kentucky (?) where the seniors decided to learn about the Holocaust. They had trouble visualizing 6 million anything so they hit upon the idea of collecting paperclips. Word got out and they started getting them from all over the world. What was really special about this project was it lasted about four years and the reporters who broke the story (it went national) found an actual boxcar that had been used for transportation to the camps, got it shipped from Europe to semi-rural Kentucky where the school turned it into a memorial, filling it with 6 million of the approx. 11 million paperclips they'd collected. For me it really brought home just how many 6 million is.

nowiknow23 posted 8/17/2013 23:12 PM

So glad you had a good experience.

timeforchange posted 8/18/2013 03:25 AM

Thanks for sharing that Clarrissa.. I will see if it is available on YouTube.

The museum gave the statistic that 1.5 million children died.... And that it was the equivalent of a whole school of children being killed every day for 8 years. The kids' eyes were like dinner plates when they heard that.

So much carnage it is really very hard to grasb the scale.

stronger08 posted 8/18/2013 04:04 AM

IMHO, history needs to be preserved. Even the bad things that have happened over the years. Too many people think that the holocaust is something that only Jews can relate to. And while it was mainly Jewish persecution, we also need to keep in mind that many other groups of people were targeted. Catholics, Gypsies, Homosexuals, Slav's etc. were all persecuted and executed. The world needs to remember these things because history has a way of repeating itself. And we never want to go there again. I'm glad you took your boy there. The impression he received will last his lifetime.

UndecidedinMA posted 8/18/2013 12:48 PM

ITA with stronger. It was 6 million Jews but 10 million altogether.

We did the musuem a few years ago, it was one of the most powerful things I have ever seen.