DeadlyDynasty
02-21-2012, 11:32 AM
I went there this past Saturday when I was in the District, and found it pretty interesting.
For starters, it's definitely the most intimate museum I've ever visited and it engages you throughout--sometimes for the worse. They typically have you start on the 4th floor and work your way down and around to the 2nd floor. Along the way you see a plethora of family pictures, Nazi propaganda, extermination footage, speeches from high-ranking Nazi officials, and a slew of other interesting things.
My only quasi-problem with the museum was the temperature (around 78-80 degrees), and how the rooms and halls narrowed as you made your way through the exhibits--this is obviously by design though, because you legitimately felt like you were packed into a rail car. It works for effect, but it also has you quickly going past certain areas b/c you're so damn hot.
If you ever visit (and I do recommend it) there are 2 things that I can assure will stay with you.
1. The Hall of Rememberance - Very cool circular room with an almost mystical feel to it, where the sunlight creeps in from above. On the walls around the area are the names of the major camps/slaughterhouses like Dachau, Mauthausen, Auschwitz, Lodz, etc, with candles set up. At the back end is their "eternal flame" with an inscription/passage from Deuteronomy (not the religious type, but the quote was very fitting).
2. In one part of the exhibit you pass through a dark, seemingly-empty corridor with waist-high glass on both sides of you. As you look down behind the glass (on both sides), the floor is covered with the actual shoes of thousands of the victims, who had taken them off prior to being exterminated. Not to sound like an arrogant prick, but after 6 years as a medic nothing really affects me or shocks me that much anymore--but this particular part of the exhibit will affect you in some way. It's an eerie feeling.
I haven't been to the one in NYC or anywhere else, but I definitely recommend visiting this one.
For starters, it's definitely the most intimate museum I've ever visited and it engages you throughout--sometimes for the worse. They typically have you start on the 4th floor and work your way down and around to the 2nd floor. Along the way you see a plethora of family pictures, Nazi propaganda, extermination footage, speeches from high-ranking Nazi officials, and a slew of other interesting things.
My only quasi-problem with the museum was the temperature (around 78-80 degrees), and how the rooms and halls narrowed as you made your way through the exhibits--this is obviously by design though, because you legitimately felt like you were packed into a rail car. It works for effect, but it also has you quickly going past certain areas b/c you're so damn hot.
If you ever visit (and I do recommend it) there are 2 things that I can assure will stay with you.
1. The Hall of Rememberance - Very cool circular room with an almost mystical feel to it, where the sunlight creeps in from above. On the walls around the area are the names of the major camps/slaughterhouses like Dachau, Mauthausen, Auschwitz, Lodz, etc, with candles set up. At the back end is their "eternal flame" with an inscription/passage from Deuteronomy (not the religious type, but the quote was very fitting).
2. In one part of the exhibit you pass through a dark, seemingly-empty corridor with waist-high glass on both sides of you. As you look down behind the glass (on both sides), the floor is covered with the actual shoes of thousands of the victims, who had taken them off prior to being exterminated. Not to sound like an arrogant prick, but after 6 years as a medic nothing really affects me or shocks me that much anymore--but this particular part of the exhibit will affect you in some way. It's an eerie feeling.
I haven't been to the one in NYC or anywhere else, but I definitely recommend visiting this one.