Remembering

By Crystal Wilson

It was cold and dark standing in the void room in the Jewish Museum. I spent the day learning about the Jewish culture and their history in Germany. Jew have an interesting and complex history in Germany. From the beginning, Jews were always persecuted in this country.  They were either forced to wear a sign so that people knew that they were Jews, they were not able to live in the city and were forced to live out of town. It was explained that Jews stopped wanting people to categorize them as Jewish but wanted people to see them as Germans. A large amount of people converted to Christianity because they thought that they would have full right and privileges as a citizen. It did not work as well as they would have liked because people viewed Jews as a race and not a religion. This made it difficult for them because regardless of what they did they were not able to escape the fact that they were Jewish.

Standing in that room made me think about all things that the Jews of Germany had to go through and their outcome. Many stood in a cold dark room before they died and that must have been terrifying. I thought of them as stood there and what they had to go through as group of people and what they have lost. The time in the void was about reflecting on their life and tragedy. Another, touching moment for me was when I walked on the faces. It was a quiet moment of thinking about Jews and hearing the sound of metal clashing as you walk towards the darkness. I was sad as I walked through the area because it represented the people that were lost due to the Holocaust. I thought about who they were… they were mother, fathers, brothers and sisters and they were brutally murdered and that made me extremely sad.

I found this experience to be very informative and touching. I was glad we were able to learn about this material. It was a great cultural experience because I was able to gather more details about the Germans that were Jewish and their life in this country. I got a better understanding of what they had to go as a people. It was very educational because I learned information that I did not know and I gained a lot from going to this excursion.  Personally, I was very happy that I was able to go to the Jewish Museum because I wanted to learn more about the Jewish religion and the struggle that they faced while they lived in this country. This excursion really made me think and reflect on the lives that were lost and the wrong that can never be righted. As I walked around the museum I wondered at how much history would never be known and stories that would never be told. This was a great experience that enlighten me and furthered my education on the Jewish culture.