It was very interesting to hear what people had to say in class today about the Holocaust. I was surprised at how in-depths some people’s knowledge of the subject was. I only learned about the Holocaust through European history. Outside of that, I have not thought about it as much as I should have. It was interesting to read and discuss the mythic qualities that the holocaust has for some people. I feel that the museum in Washington is probably more effective by mysticizing the holocaust a little.
In 8th grade, during a trip to Washington D.C., my class visited the Holocaust Museum. From what I remember about it, it revolved around the history of the Jews that were lost there. I remember there being shoes, the image of the gates at Auschwitz, and personal articles that were relatable to stir emotions. I also remember a large meditation room where we all sat around in silence. No one was in the mood to say anything. The meditation room was secular to my memory. While I was very moved at the time, I honestly have not thought much about the Holocaust since that trip.
I decided after class to look at the website for the museum down in D.C. It is called the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The website is available in 11 different languages. They say that 90% of their visitors are not Jewish. They express a very broad message about checking hatred to prevent genocide. All over their website is information about genocide prevention, which I do not remember when I was a child. This has probably changed due to more Western knowledge of the atrocities that happen in lesser-known areas like Darfur. In terms of the Holocaust information on the website, they emphasize mostly the Jewish struggles in the Holocaust.
The website and museum in a way probably mysticize the Holocaust. They present the images, artifacts, and stories that will most likely stir up the audiences and leave an impression. By capitalizing on this, they look to make an impact on its visitors and send them away with a message, that being “Never again”. While I know the idea of attributing mythic qualities to the Holocaust could be dangerous and controversial, it has a powerful effect on the viewers.

Our class discussion on the Holocaust made me reflect upon a conversation that I had with one of my friends when she and I were traveling in Amsterdam over winter break of last year. The Anne Frank house is located there, and before I set off on the trip, my mom reminded me of that fact and said that I should definitely check it out. When I asked my friend whether she would be interested in going to the museum, she was adamantly against the idea since she believed that the Anne Frank story was not an accurate portrayal of the Holocaust, and thus she did not feel like it should be so widely broadcast and received as one of the most crucial Holocaust stories. Since it was only she and I who were traveling, and we wanted to stick together, I did not end up visiting the house. Many people that I spoke with about my decision did not understand, and said that if they were me, they would have protested and made their friend come to the museum, or would have broken off from her for a couple of hours to get the experience. My reasoning had multiple layers: for one, I did not want to share the experience with someone who would be meanwhile resenting it, and two, on some level I did understand where she was coming from, in terms of how the Anne Frank story is over-broadcasted, and because of that, does not portray the message that stories of the Holocaust should necessarily be sending.

The Anne Frank story, along with Schindler’s list, and the gate of Auschwitz, mentioned in the article that we read for class, is a product of Holocaust myth. It is the story of one girl that has become so famous, adapted into numerous cinematic pieces, read by countless students. But does it help people remember the Holocaust in an effective way, or does the constant appearance of the story serve to numb individuals to the event? In addition, does the focus on this particular story take away the importance of the other stories of the individuals involved in the Holocaust? Is remembering one story enough? In a way, I felt embarrassed that I did not visit the museum, and felt as though as a Jew I had done a disservice to my family and my religion. It was as if, even if I did not think I would be affected by a visit from the house, and even though I thought the story was over-told, I had not performed an act of remembrance that was expected from me.

I can relate a lot to the comment that was made by Caroline, about how, as a descendant of Holocaust survivors, and as someone who has a lot of knowledge about the Holocaust, she often feels jaded when it comes to Holocaust related material. This has definitely been something that I’ve experienced; my grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, she has told her story numerous times at our JCC, for a project conducted by Steven Speilburg, and at my middle school. I have been to both Yad Vashem and the Holocaust memorial in DC, but I did not feel incredibly moved at either museum. Sure I understood the gravity of the material in these museums, and sure there were parts of the museum that had an effect on me, but I was not anywhere close to tears, or any immense emotion. I remember that there were even instances during these types of trips where I questioned whether I should be imposing some sort of emotion upon myself to make up for my absent tears.

So there are a lot of questions that I have about how to remember the Holocaust, and whether mythologizing is harmful as well as helpful. It seems that the repetition of certain stories are effective, because they immortalize the Holocaust within our culture. However, as these stories are told and retold, individuals are simultaneously remembering the Holocaust as well as growing desensitized from its terror. So is there a way of remembering the Holocaust, and creating myths without the repercussions? I have found that the few times I did have a visceral reaction to things Holocaust-related was when specific details were mentioned. For instance, in Hebrew school, I felt a bit sick when we learned about how Nazis performed experiments on pregnant women, in which they would sew the vagina shut, and monitor the repercussions. In a less gruesome example, I also felt something when I learned that after my grandmother and her sister were smuggled out of Auschwitz by a kind, German soldier, the other people at the camp were informed that the two women were killed. This fact was explained to my grandmother by a woman from the camp, who she ran into years later at a train station, after she moved to the States.

I guess the process of creating myth surrounding the Holocaust strikes me as problematic because it buries the smaller details, and the experience becomes impersonal, quite often masked by the faces of actors in a film. In this, I am not denying the immense importance of these myths; they make it possible to remember the Holocaust, and make these memories accessable to individuals everywhere. I just wonder what the myths will look like in years to come, how many of Holocaust’s lesser known voices (the people who did not keep diaries, and even the ones that did) will be silenced, and how many stories will be forgotten in order “to remember.”