Week 9: Reflections

This week marked my first week interning without a staff member present to shadow, and if I've learned anything from it, it is that school groups are just the worst. It makes me so thankful that I dropped my education minor and I now fully understand why professors choose to teach college rather than high school or middle school. One of my main jobs is handling large student groups who come to the museum to see our permanent exhibit. When I first orient them, I try to remind them that they are in a memorial museum, and that it is a place to remember, reflect and pay respect to those lives lost in the Holocaust. Although for some reason, students seem to equate this with talking loudly, leaving behind trash, and running in exhibit spaces. I've quickly learned that there is only so many times one can reprimand a group of teenagers. This is probably the most frustrating job that I am in charge of, yet can occasionally be fulfilling. When those occasional students break off from the group and take their time to explore and really understand the exhibit, they leave with a completely different face than those who do not. This I guess can go back to my blog from a few weeks ago about my goals; that if I can change one person's view on history and society, I will have fulfilled my definition of greatness.

And sometimes it happens.

Today though, I was fortunate enough to receive a tour of the Some Were Neighbors exhibit from the curator who created the temporary exhibition. Susan Bachrach, a historian who has been with the USHMM for over 20 years, gave a two-hour tour explaining the reasoning behind setting up the exhibit as she did and how she acquired its artifacts and information. Ms. Bachrach explained how hundreds of hours were spent obtaining the information and stories of the perpetrators, bystanders, and victims with the goal of expanding the Holocaust narrative beyond the basic knowledge of Nazi perpetrators. There were many other people besides those a part of the Nazi party who participated in discriminatory acts, sold out their neighbors or friends, and went against their fellow countrymen. However, the exhibit also shows those who did support and/or aid Jews and other targeted groups. One way Susan set up the exhibit was comparing the act of one man with the act of another. In one area of the exhibition, there is a panel describing the story of one police officer who saved his Jewish neighbors, and one police officer who shipped his Jewish neighbors off to the ghetto. One police officer said he was following orders, while the other said his job was to protect the innocent. This dichotomy between the two officers is just one of many examples throughout the exhibition space. Another part of the exhibit, that I find to be the most interesting, is the murder by bullets section. This area is designated to recalling the murderous acts of the Einsatzgruppen and discusses the number of people who died by bullet, rather than of Zyklon B poisoning, disease, and starvation experienced by those in the camps. It's a different take on victims and perpetrators of those outside the ghettos and camps, that many people tend to overlook or briefly acknowledge. 

The museum this week has been crazy busy as Spring breakers and field trips leave us running out of tickets for the permanent exhibition by early noon. With all the people and large groups entering at a single time, the next few months are going to be a test of my patience and my ability to handle responsibilities under stress.