Holocaust Museum

This was an amazing day but very hard. Our Israel teacher Ophir came and gave us lots of information and then let us go on a self guided tour throughout the museum. On the grounds outside there were beautiful statues and thousands of trees. Each tree was dedicated to a group, family or individual that hid a Jew during the Holocaust. That was probably one of my favorite parts because it showed me that there were courageous people that risked there lives to do what was right. The museum itself was heart breaking. It was hard to hear all the stories and witness the horror in the pictures and movies. The hardest to face was the children's memorial. There were 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust. In the memorial you walk into a room with millions of little lights that represent all the young lives that were taken. It is so cruel to see all the suffering endured by so many. This truly was a humbling experience. It is hard to face these things but it teaches you a lot about life and changes our outlook and perspective. 

 The entrance 

 Shows the mourning of the Jews leaving without struggle. 

 The opposite view. This shows the people that fought back in some of the Ghetto riots. 

 Hebrew lettering 

 I loved this. Shows how we all will feel when we are free from sorrow and heartache

 The center of the museum

This was my favorite part of the museum. It was the last exhibit that we visited and at this point I was just so downhearted and couldn't make sense of anything. But this room made me remember something. We all have hope. We will all go through terrible things in our lives but we can carry on. We have our Savior and we know that through him we can receive everlasting happiness and joy.  I know he lives and that in and of itself will always give me peace. 

At night we had a Holocaust survivor come and speak to us. He survived 9 different concentration camps. He told us his story. 

He was the happiest person and so cheerful. It was a huge testimony that we can overcome any trial. He said that the biggest thing he wants us to learn is that we must have patience through every trial. They will be hard but there will always be an end in site. You can survive.