An Exhibit Sponsored by
The Holocaust Museum
History tells
us that many times an event begins to unfold a number of years after it
happened. Case in point:
In the month of May 2001, I visited with my wife, Yvonne, and my
daughter-in-law, Barb, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.
Among the many heart-wrenching photos we saw on display at the permanent
exhibit were gruesome shots of inmates at Auschwitz and Buchenwald
concentration camps, seen with dismembered body parts. The horrifying photos
were hidden, out of sight, by way of a circular partition to prevent
exposure to minors and those with a weak stomach. This type of graphic
information, “Man‘s inhumanity to Man,” was not readily available to the
public at large until the US. Memorial Holocaust Museum, in Washington D.C.,
authorized by Congress, became a permanent living memorial to all victims
who perished in the Holocaust.
It was also during that period when an intense interest in the study of the Holocaust developed in the U.S. and abroad. The Leo Baeck Institute began to gather data from survivors, while Steven Spielberg in 1994 established “The Shoa Visual History Foundation” with the urgent mission to chronicle, before it was too late, the first-hand accounts of Holocaust survivors.
The main reason for my second visit to the museum was to view the current exhibit, “Flight and Rescue” figure 1. It tells the story of Jews fleeing from Nazi oppression to China in Japan.
The highlight of the exhibit were photos and documents which represented the twenty-thousand Jews that found refuge in Shanghai (figures two through seven.) As I walked past the Hongkew memorabilia, I suddenly noticed much to my surprise, a large photo of my mother, Gerda, with her cousin, Kaete Benjamin, standing at their provision store, Elite, located at 737 Broadway East (figure 8.) As I stood in awe, glancing at this large reproduction, a visitor walked by and asked me why I was staring at the picture. With overwhelming emotions, I told him that this was my mother. He than immediately offered to take a picture of me with my camera standing next to mother‘s photo (figure 9.)
As we continued with our visit, the staff took us behind the scenes of the museum. The photo archive department where all the photos and documents for future exhibits are put on hold, impressed us the most. A wall, approximately twenty-five feet in length, lined with drawers designed for storing prints and documents, were electronically controlled to maintain the proper temperature and humidity. As per our request, the archivist unlocked one of the drawers to show us the passport of Isadore Abraham, Yvonne‘s grandfather. It was part of the current exhibit that was recently removed and replaced by another document. The passport was issued by Nazi Germany, bearing the infamous red letter “J’, and stamped by the Shanghai authorities at the port of entry. Yvonne was required to put on white gloves before handling the document (figures 10 and 11.) While we were present, the passport, previously on loan, was given to the museum as a permanent gift.
After we left the museum, we were absolutely assured that the passport and all other documents submitted earlier were secure and handled with the utmost respect. We were also happy to observe the interest of the visitors in the exhibit, “Flight and Rescue.” Very few people I talked to had heard about the ghettos outside continental Europe that were in existence during WW2. We are therefore committed to continue telling the story by way of actual photos, documents, and other memorabilia, which we collected during the tragic years.
I sincerely hope that the history of the Holocaust will continue to unfold in the years to come as more information is gathered and analyzed by scholars throughout the world Even more important is my hope that the world will have learned something from all the information gathered on the Holocaust, and that tolerance and respect toward mankind will prevail during the lives of our children and their children.