Today, June 15, we visited Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust museum. Living in Cleveland all our lives, we grew up in the strong Jewish community which educated about the horrors of the Holocaust and honored the Jews lost in this terrible event. We always have felt that we know a lot about the Holocaust, but today we experienced a new perspective by learning about the Holocaust while being in Israel. It felt so different being in Israel to learn about the Holocaust because everything around you is a result of the Jewish desire for their own state, something made even more important by the Holocaust. It made us feel more connected to the actual Holocaust by understanding how this tragedy led to the creation of Israel, for example, the video of Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem, being sung by Czechoslovakians, a sign of growing Zionism.
Our guide also shared with us the importance of the architecture in Yad Vashem. Some parts that caught our eyes was the structure of the main building and how it seemed to cut in when the Holocaust really started. She explained to us that the shape should make us start to feel claustrophobic and should intensify our experience in the museum. Other parts that caught our interests was that the start of the building was not even attached to Mount Herzl, but that it was “floating”. Our guide explained that the architect did this to tell us that the Jewish people didn’t know how close they were to “falling off”. This really helped to invoke a feeling of sympathy and had a powerful impact on us.