Holocaust Experience

5,000 miles from our island home, we were catching the bus to a museum. We already visited war memorials and such, but today we were scheduled to see what would be the most impactful place of the trip. The overall energy of our group was rather low. As well as being tired we were dreading the emotional blow to come. Although we never covered the Holocaust in class, we all had a cursory understanding of what happened and therefore were unsure how well we would handle this museum.
The bus skidded to a stop in front of the building and the class stepped out single file. We grouped in front of the door and took our first steps into a life-changing experience. After we entered the museum we were given a card. On this card was the name and bio of a person who was a prisoner during the Holocaust. With this in hand, we began our self-guided tour.
Our class broke up into small groups and trudged through the many halls. The museum goers trekked through the aisles like sheep through a narrow pass. We stopped often to read sign after sign depicting the horrifying events which had occurred six decades ago. The museum obviously had a profound effect on us because everyone, including us fourteen year olds, was quiet. The silence was so …show more content…
Now it was time for us to see the fate of our inanimate companion during the journey through the museum. I waited with bated breath as I was led to a certain section. My feet dragged across the carpet, making a slight shuffling sound. As I traced my finger down the row of names I felt the fiber of the thick paper under my hand. Muffled gasps rang out around me as people found their respective cards. I traced back and forth with my eyes, searching for the name. I finally found it a few rows down and lifted the card up to read. With a sigh of relief I read the ending of my assigned person. He had lived through the Holocaust, started his own business and died of old