Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum

It has been 15 years since I visited the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C.   During our mid-term orientation I was again privileged to go with the entire EA group through another Holocaust Museum--the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.  It is built on land set aside in 1953 to memorialize the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis, and to honor those who tried to save them.  It is set on 45 acres on the Mount of Remembrance.  

It includes a history, a children’s memorial, an avenue of the righteous, a hall of remembrance, a cattle car memorial and a Valley of the Communities.  The effects of the Holocaust reverberate strongly in this magnificent tribute.  It speaks loud and clear of the shameful course of history and the lessons learned so that it will never happen again. 

Korczak and the Ghetto's Children

The sculpture pictured above memorializes the Polish pediatrition, Janusz Korczak, who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto who went to his death in the Treblinka Extermination Camp with "his children" in August of 1942.

Today all of us were expected to meet with the various consulates from each of our countries.  Ruth, Wayne, Nader and I met with Matthew Welch of the U.S. Department of State.  His office is in Jerusalem and he is the political officer for Human Rights and Religious Affairs.  This particular department has been in existence for 150 years.   There was an exchange of information concerning the present responsibilities and priorities of the U.S. State Department.   We each shared information about our placement areas and we also shared concerns we hear from the Palestinian people in the areas where we serve.

Susanne