Today I fought to make myself go out into the windy cold day. On the metro for the first part of my trip I was in a car surrounded by a teacher and his six gradeschoolers. We were all standing up and he was trying to get them to hang onto the poles so they wouldn’t fall. “Simon says hang on to something!” he’d say and they’d all grab the poles. He was very engaging and the six 3rd or 4th grades were really cute. I got the impression they were going to Union Station and catching a bus somewhere. At the transfer station I got out to get on another line that would take me to the Mall.
Man it was cold today! And so windy my eyes were tearing up. I walked head first into the wind down to the Washington Monument, then spent quite a bit of time at the new World War II memorial. That’s a pretty place. From there I walked all the way around the tidal basin to the Jefferson Monument. And you know what? There was the teacher, many other teachers and a whole passel of kids! Including “my” six! Should have followed them and ridden the bus!
After the Jefferson Memorial I walked back over to the Holocaust Memorial. I knew going through this memorial site could be upsetting but I thought it was important. Plus I really didn’t know enough about the Holocaust and what better place to learn?
Several times in the exhibits I was glad the light was low as my eyes were tearing up and there was no wind to blame. This museum is a testament to our freedom of speech as it became painfully obvious how little the United States did to help the Jews. And how late. Though the focus of the exhibit was not to denigrate the US, it was obvious in the time line and in the stories of people and countries who attempted to put a stop to the killings that we were too busy fighting the war to use our resources to stop or slow the extermination of thousands. Sounds somewhat familiar. If you ever get to DC this exhibit is worth your time. Please put it at the top of your list of things to see.
So what does all this have to do with shoes? Well, I put a lot of miles on mine. But that’s not it. About 2/3 of the way through the Holocaust exhibit is a room piled with shoes. Actual shoes worn by people gassed. There were prisoners whose job it was to take valuables from the bodies, and the shoes, along with other clothes were collected and often given to Germans in need. Sort of a Nazi second hand system.
I got through the whole exhibit without actually crying and it was tough. But the shoes? The shoes made me cry.
Change Is Hard 
December 10, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I spent all day in there once. For me, it was the glasses.
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December 10, 2009 at 8:37 pm
When I went to Gemany once, we visited a old concentration camp. All the building were down because of disease but they had outlines of all the buildings. It was the most eerie feeling Ive ever had. I dont ever need to go back there again and that was when I was 21 yr.old. Diana
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December 10, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I was lucky enough to spend many hours over a couple of years’ worth of trips to DC in the museums and monuments along the mall. It has been 20 years, though–so I’ve never seen the native american museum or the holocaust memorial. Thanks for your photos and comments.
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December 11, 2009 at 5:40 am
My mom went to Aushwitz last year. The part she found most moving were the rooms piled with belongings.
Horrific that lessons from the past still have not been learned.
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December 11, 2009 at 6:48 am
Mom thinks the Holocaust museum is the most important place to visit in DC. She’ll never forget going there and the shoe room had a huge impact on her too.
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December 12, 2009 at 11:14 am
My daughter and I went to the Holocaust museum last year when she livedin the Washington DC area. I thought I would cry and cry (have cried so many tears over the years) but for some reason didn’t. When we visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam last year, that’s when I really did cry. Hopelessly. Thank you for sharing this.
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