Running head: MUSEUM REFLECTION

Museum of Tolerance Reflection

Leeza Thomas
Azusa Pacific University

MUSEUM REFLECTION
2
I chose to visit the Museum of Tolerance with one of the other members of our class.
Prior to our visit, I knew very little about the museum and I was unsure of what to expect. I was
very grateful to have made the decision not to go alone because it was helpful to have someone
who was familiar with the museum, its layout and content. Shortly after arriving, we thought it
would be best to go through the Holocaust guided tour. To be honest, I was very unsure of what
to expect with this tour. The tour was guided by light and sound, which was a new concept to me.
Like many other young people, I had learned a great deal about the Holocaust from specific high
school classes and world history courses during my undergraduate career. The event of World
War II have always been of particular interest to me, so I was interested to see what exactly
distinguish this tour from other exhibits I had seen before.
The beginning of the tour was helpful as it explained three important characters that
would be speaking and giving information throughout the tour. By the time we had moved to the
third exhibit in the tour, I was completely enthralled. The design of the tour and exhibits was
done in a way that looked like it had a cartoon effect, but it all seemed very realistic, and I felt as
thought I could have been walking past German storefronts and a caf. Listening to the
conversations of those at the caf was when something changed for me. Some voices were joyful
and pleasant while others were fearful and anxious. There is something very different about
reading stories in school and being able to hear a voice share similar information.
As the tour continued, we learned more about the small and seemingly subtle changes
that were made throughout Germany and Europe as a whole. We learned that the general
response to these changes was that of excitement and hopefulness. The next exhibit that I found
to be quite gripping was where a group of military officials were gathered for a meeting and were
trying to decide how to exterminate large masses of people. It was during this meeting that they

MUSEUM REFLECTION
3
decided they would deceive the Jews (and others) in telling them that they were spraying them
with a certain pesticide to protect them, when in reality, the gas would end their lives. The
military officials in the exhibit laughed at this and I was so deeply angered. I wondered at what
point did they decide that they were superior and that other individuals were not worthy of
human dignity. I would say that this point was about half way through the tour and I grew very
frustrated. I do not remember exactly where in the tour this was discussed, but I remember also
being angry at the fact that other countries had turned people away and denied them entrance into
their countries during this time, including the U.S. I am sure that many did not believe that the
Holocaust would become as devastating as it was, but the fact that no one really seemed to say or
do anything is something that has always bothered me. Too many were blinded by the hope that
Hitler and his movement were preaching to stop and understand what this hope would cost the
people around them.
The next few exhibits portrayed ruined areas from bombings and explained more of what
happened in the ghettos during this time. Just around the corner I saw a large gate-like structure
that I knew we would be walking through and I grew very nervous. I had an unusual feeling in
my stomach and my palms were sweaty. Right above my head was the speaker where a narrator
explained that the gate we were about to walk through was similar to those that many walked
through and never returned from. Next, there was an entrance that lead into a dark and dismal
room that had a concrete look to it with television monitors. I sat down one of the benches and
could not wait to leave that room. I imagine that they were attempting to give their audience a
very small glimpse into what being held in a chamber may have felt like. Although I knew I
would be leaving in a few moments, I was very uncomfortable. As I watched the video on the
monitor in front of me, I continued to wonder why so many awful things were allowed to happen

MUSEUM REFLECTION
4
to such innocent people. Again, at one point did this group of people decide that others that were
different were no longer worthy of human dignity. And then I thought about our culture today.
Prejudice and injustice are very real things today and I cannot help but wonder how far a
movement like that of the Holocaust would go today. If our country was that desperate for a
hopeful change, would be resort to such awful acts? In my asking this question, I am in no way
trying to minimize what happened to the millions of individuals involved in or affected by the
Holocaust, but I feel that as sinful human beings, we are capable of doing awful things.
Unfortunately, we were unable to complete the tour because we wanted to make sure that
we would be able to hear one of the Holocaust survivors speak. Reflecting on the visit, I wish we
would have been able to plan that a little better because it was very difficult to transition from the
emotions that the Holocaust tour stirred up within me to being surrounding by a lot of other
people who seemed uninterested in the speaker. The speaker that we heard was named Elaine
Geller. I had attended lectures given by Holocaust survivors before so I was eager to see what
similarities and/or differences there might be between this womans story and stories that I have
heard before. She told the story of how her family had arranged for her to stay with a good
Christian family once there was word that the Nazis would be coming to their small town in
Poland. Once they had arrived, her father saw betrayal amongst the family Elaine was to stay
with, and through a series of events, the entire family was sent to concentration camps. She
talked about what the experience was like as a small child who was confused and unsure of what
was happening. She talked about the horrible living conditions that included lice, rats, not food,
abuse by the Nazis and their dogs, and sickness. As I listened I wondered how many other
individuals had similar stories of being young children and being treated so inhumanely,
practically without any family. She shared what it was like coming to America and living in

MUSEUM REFLECTION
5
Brooklyn, New York once the concentration camp was liberated by the British. She mentioned
that she has been sharing her story for 25 years now and I wondered what kind of affect that may
have had on her life. When she was speaking, she seemed emotionless. I do not mean this to be a
rude or negative comment, but it was almost as though since she has shared this same story
multiple times, she was letting her audience feel the emotion that she refused to show. I am very
thankful to have had the opportunity to hear her speak. I am thankful that she so willingly shared
that day and that she continues to educate many other young people.
After leaving the museum, I had a lot of emotions that I was unsure of how to process. I
was angry, confused, saddened and curious. I began to think about how this experience and what
I learned could somehow, someway be related to my current or future work in student affairs.
After discussing it further with one of my classmates, I realized that if there was one key takeaway from the day, it would be that there is such great value in someone sharing their story. This
is something that I have known to be true, but I think that it is something that is often overlooked
on certain college campuses. In terms of programming, I think that it would be neat to see more
university campuses embracing this idea that we all have a story worth sharing. Even
remembering the first class of the CCSD program and how were all asked to share parts of our
undergraduate experiences, we were learning about each others stories. I think that providing
opportunities and facilitating conversations for students to be able to share about themselves as
well as learn from others is something that could be helpful in making campuses more
welcoming and inclusive of students.