By Alana Schlaeger, NFTY in Israel Participant, Bus 2
As I sat underneath a tree in the shade I never would have realized how one tree could mean so much in this world. As what I thought was just a place to sit to avoid the beaming sun I soon learned that this tree represents one persons story. At Yad Vashem there is a Garden of Righteous Among the Nations. Within this garden there are more than 2,000 trees which represent brave people who risked their own lives to save Jews in the Holocaust. This little tree I was sitting under represents one of the thousands of people who are the reason more survivors can share their stories today.
As we began our audio tour we started on a less serious note. We discussed the propaganda that the Nazis used to gain power. The museum had signs that were hung up during these times and the tour guide even explained how they portrayed Hitlers image with the angle of a camera. We walked through more rooms as I began to feel what Jews went through in the 1930s-1940s. One room that truly stood out to me was the room with the shoes in a glass box underneath our feet. Seeing these 400 shoes on the ground without people to continue on their stories. As I looked down at all the shoes a red high heel pair stood out to me. This lady felt as if she was escaping the ghettos, but never would she be wearing those bright, red high heels again.
At the conclusion of our audio tour we went to the Hall of Names. In this hall there are 4.7 million names of the Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. Our tour guide explained to us that there is extra space on the shelves as they hope through more research to uncover more of the names. As you look up on the wall there are different pictures to remember certain faces. We were instructed to look down at this little pool of water. I was able to see the reflection of the pictures just as if it was a mirror. Our tour guide explained how that water is significant in Jewish tradition. As I stretched my hand across the railing I saw my reflection as well. The water makes it so the faces reflect on to you and get to live on within everyone that comes to Yad Vashem
The last place we went to at Yad Vashem was the children’s memorial. This memorial was apart from the rest of the museum. We were told we would enter a small room and try to remember one of the names that would be said while we were inside. As I walked in I saw lights all around me like a starry sky. I heard countless names be said, including their age (mostly 3 years old) and where they were from. This starry sky lights were five candles reflected to make an illusion of how many children died. As we left this memorial I couldn’t remember anyone’s name, but that it was hard for me to hear names of such young children who’s lives were taken away from them. Yad Vashem has a cycle of children names with around 1 million names. It would take nearly 5 months to get through all these names. I couldn’t fathom the amount of children who were murdered during the Holocaust.
In conclusion I would like to end with a Hebrew phrase. לעולם לא אשכח… never forget. 6 million is not just a number there are individual stories that must be passed on as well.
