Week 4: History of the Museum

Seeing as how I am getting closer to starting my internship, I will spend this post discussing the history of the museum I will be spending the upcoming months at. All of this information can be found on the Museum's website if interested in researching more about it.

In 1978 under President Carter, an organization was created called the President's Commission on the Holocaust. This was headed by Auschwitz survivor, famed author and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel. A year after the commission was created, a proposal to create a memorial was pitched. The memorial would have three parts to it: a museum, an educational foundation and a Committee on Conscience. The mission of the Committee would be "To alert the national conscience; influence policy makers, and stimulate worldwide action to confront and work to halt acts of genocide or related crimes against humanity." The Committee was officially created in 1995.

Before construction of the Museum, containers of ash obtained from the death camps and the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery were buried under the soil to remind the public about what the Museum stands for. The street the Museum can be found on was renamed Raoul Wallenberg Street, after a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust by providing safe houses and passports to those escaping Nazi occupied territory. The architect of the Museum, Mr. James Ingo Freed, was himself affected by the Holocaust. Him and his family were expelled from Nazi Germany in 1939, James being only eight years old at that time. In 1990, during construction of the Museum, two milk cartons containing "pledges of remembrance" from survivors were buried under where the Hall of Remembrance stands today.

On April 26, 1993- fifteen years after the proposal- the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened to the public. The Dalai Lama was the first visitor to enter the museum. Four days before the opening, a dedication ceremony was held which included guests such as the Israeli president, Chaim Herzog, President Bill Clinton and Elie Wiesel. Unfortunately, Mr. Wiesel passed away last year; however, his experience- published in his book Night- is read and remembered in classrooms all throughout the country and his story will continue to be told.

The mission of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is "To advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy." This mission is still relevant in today's society, with democracy and morality coming into question within our own government. Though Elie Wiesel and many other survivors since the opening of the Museum have passed, the area is a testament to all they endured and a reminder of what happens when prejudice and hate envelop a country. I am counting the days until I can be apart of such an important institution. 

History.com. A+E Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/wallenberg-raoul. Accessed 2 Feb. 2017

"Mission Statement." USHMM.com, www.ushmm.org/information/about-the-museum/mission-and- history.  Accessed 2 Feb. 2017

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "History of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum." Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php? ModuleId=10005782. Accessed on 2 Feb. 2017.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Committee of Conscience." Simon-Skjdot Center for the Prevention of Genocide. https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/about/committee-on-conscience-members. Accessed on 2. Feb. 2017