Back in WWII, my grandfather served in the US Army and went ashore during the liberation of Europe on D-Day. With the passing of my father last week, many of those old photos have come back to me via both e-mail and memory. Among the places that he went was one of the German Concentration Camps, and those photos have always been haunting. Partly due to that, I went today to the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Shockoe Bottom. It was my first visit since coming to Richmond, and this was certainly not the typical light and airy Richmond museum. Admission is free (donations accepted) but the subject is certainly sobering.
The museum has a whole history of the Holocaust from the earliest ride of the Nazi's, though the horror of the ghettos of Warsaw, and of course the prison camps. This is shown in photos, movies from the survivors, movies from the trial of the Nazi's, and many items from the camps and the periods of the persecution. There is a warning that younger children should not be taken through the museum, and some caution should be taken for sure. Much of it is pretty graphic and shocking, but it is a period of history that should not be forgotten ever...and it is a great thing in my opinion that this museum is here in Richmond.
I have always been a student of history, and that is one of the reasons that I find Richmond such an interesting place to be. It is hard to believe that minds such as Hitler and his like could even dream up the horrors that they inflicted on the Jewish people, as well as on the rest of the world. It is good that places such as this exist to remind us all that evil is out there, and we must resist so that nothing like this happens ever again. Unfortunately, though not on this scale, it has happened again since WWII, but the world to its credit has not turned such a blind eye as it did back then. Certainly the Virginia Holocaust Museum is not an easy visit, but it is an important and worthwhile one.
Back in WWII, my grandfather served in the US Army and went ashore during the liberation of Europe on D-Day. With the passing of my father last week, many of those old photos have come back to me via both e-mail and memory. Among the places that he went was one of the German Concentration Camps, and those photos have always been haunting. Partly due to that, I went today to the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Shockoe Bottom. It was my first visit since coming to Richmond, and this was certainly not the typical light and airy Richmond museum. Admission is free (donations accepted) but the subject is certainly sobering. 
The museum has a whole history of the Holocaust from the earliest ride of the Nazi's, though the horror of the ghettos of Warsaw, and of course the prison camps. This is shown in photos, movies from the survivors, movies from the trial of the Nazi's, and many items from the camps and the periods of the persecution. There is a warning that younger children should not be taken through the museum, and some caution should be taken for sure. Much of it is pretty graphic and shocking, but it is a period of history that should not be forgotten ever...and it is a great thing in my opinion that this museum is here in Richmond. 
I have always been a student of history, and that is one of the reasons that I find Richmond such an interesting place to be. It is hard to believe that minds such as Hitler and his like could even dream up the horrors that they inflicted on the Jewish people, as well as on the rest of the world. It is good that places such as this exist to remind us all that evil is out there, and we must resist so that nothing like this happens ever again. Unfortunately, though not on this scale, it has happened again since WWII, but the world to its credit has not turned such a blind eye as it did back then. Certainly the Virginia Holocaust Museum is not an easy visit, but it is an important and worthwhile one.
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