Imperial War Museum - Holocaust Exhibit

After a visit to the Imperial War Museum, I began thinking about the ways the Holocaust impacted life and culture throughout Europe. The holocaust impacted life and the future of Europe for many decades to come.

For many months during World War II, the rest of the continent was unaware of the terrible and inhumane acts the Germans were performing across their newly acquired lands. The Germans killed millions of Jewish and other perceived enemies of the army, government and Hitler. After conquering each country, they proceeded to eliminate anyone who posed a threat to the Nazi’s goals.

So many people across Europe were affected by the acts of the Germans. Whether they were actual members in a concentration, related to individuals in concentration camps, neighbors of prisoners or the few warm-hearted individuals who risked their own life to take in a Jewish family to save them from the Nazi wrath, everyone in Europe felt the pain and torture that occurred at the various concentration and death camps.

Walking through the Holocaust portion at the Imperial War Museum, I could not think of words to describe the feelings in my head. A group of us went into the portion of the museum together and, after an hour, exited together, not speaking a word to each other the entire hour. We were all awe-struck at the presentation of the museum but, most importantly, it is the first exhibit most of us have seen that genuinely told the stories of Nazi’s and imprisoned people from an emotional point of view, not a grotesque one.

Aside from death, the individuals who were lucky enough to survive Germany’s concentration and death camps had emotions that were impossible to express. The use of this museum allowed many individuals the opportunity to express the emotion of the era and the feelings and surrounded the times.

After reading and learning about the Holocaust from text books, I have also been sobered when I think about the actualities of the events. However, the holocaust can not be told in a textbook. It affected the culture of Europe and England too greatly to be told in pages of a book, pictures or statistics. The section at the Imperial War Museum brought to life the humanity of the Holocaust and how it still impacts the lives of many Europeans today.