US Holocaust Museum

the Holocaust museum is a must see in DC. It explores the reasons for the holocaust (racism, hate propagada), the early pogroms against jews in Germany, and the "final solution." No one can possibly deny the holocaust after visiting the museum. You need a ticket to see the permanent exhibit - that way children do not accidently get admitted. There is a childrens exhibit on the first floor, no ticket is needed. Very moving. I especially was touched by the exhibit of the shtetl of Eisiskes, a jewish village exterminated by the SS. A photo exhibit shows the villages residents, displayed on a three story wall. The village existed for 900 years, then then one afternoon everyone was killed, shot to death. This may have been the inspiration for Jonathon Safron Foer's book, Everything is Illuminated, and the village of Trachimbrod. I kept thinking about the movie while at the museum: everything must be illuminated, for us to understand ourselves. The holocaust must be illuminated, for the survivors and their families, and for all of humanity. It shows us who we are, what we are capable of. There was also a display on the Sudan, a place where human holocaust continues. (Jonathon Safron Foer has a new novel, Extremly Close and Incredibly Loud)