Dan, my sister and I spent a good part of the day yesterday in Washington, DC. They had never been to the Holocaust Memorial Museum before, and I hadn’t been there since going there for a field trip in fifth grade, so we decided to brave the freezing cold to pay a visit to the museum. It’s definitely one of those places that everyone should visit at least once in a lifetime. The permanent exhibition there is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive repositories of Holocaust-related records. After going through floor after floor of photographs,  models, videos, and preserved items from the era, you are confronted with the horrors of this atrocity. It serves as a reminder of how awful and inhumane genocide is and encourages us to work towards a world in which such injustices will be eradicated.

The Washington Monument
Clear skies in Washington, DC!

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

the line into the museum
the line into the museum

Think About What You Saw
The Next Time You Witness Hatred... The Next Time You See Injustice... The Next Time You Hear About Genocide... Think About What You Saw

in front of the Holocaust Museum
Miwa and I in front of the Holocaust memorial museum.

There was no photography allowed in the exhibition areas, but we were allowed to take some pictures on the first floor of the four-story museum.

quote by Bill Clinton
Quote by Bill Clinton at the entrance of the museum.

You Are My Witnesses
enscription on the wall

Elie Wiesel quote
"For the dead and the living we must bear witness" - Elie Wiesel

Holocaust memorial
memorial area

"From Memory to Action"
From Memory to Action

Smithsonian station
Smithsonian Metro station... waiting for the train to go back home.

I’ve really missed DC and the richness of history, culture, and education that is characteristic of our nation’s capital. In the Smithsonian area alone, there are so many art, history, and science exhibits and archives that you can enjoy free of admission. Because I was so used to museums where everyone and anyone had equal opportunities to visit and enjoy exhibits, museum admission fees are such a foreign concept to me and I didn’t really realize that most museums around the country charge until I traveled to other cities. The Kennedy Center, where I interned one summer, boasts the nation’s busiest performing facility and as the national center of the performing arts, it is a public-private partnership in which ticket proceeds and gifts from individuals, corporations and private foundations go towards educational and outreach initiatives. There are endless resources to educate and open your horizons in DC, and it had been such a privilege to live only fifteen minutes away from it all. It’s one of those things that I couldn’t truly appreciate the value of until I was away from it.