DANIEL'S STORY: REMEMBER THE CHILDREN

By: Jennifer Bahou

Noveber 9, 1998

An event that touch many people’s lives of all ages the HOLOCAUST. The Holocaust is an incident that occurred during the World War II, between the German Nazis and the German Jews. "In 1933 approximately nine million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be occupied by Germany during the war. By 1945 two out of every three European Jews had been killed," (United State Holocaust Memorial Museum ). As the Nazis took over many countries across Europe from 1933-1945, plenty of other innocent people were persecuted and murdered (United State Holocaust Memorial Museum). Many Jews and other victims of racial and ethnic hatred were sent to ghettos, forced labor camps, and concentration camps by the Germany Nazis to imprison them, where eventually they would die there, (United State Memorial Museum ). Holocaust was not a pleasure event to remember. Many honest, worthy, and honorable people die during this period. Yet, the ones that survived are the ones that will never forget this event. They are the ones to teach the world of the awful hatred the German Nazis had toward the German Jews. Also, to teach us that "the Holocaust was not an accident in history---it occurred because individuals, organizations, and governments made choices which not only legalized discrimination, but which allowed prejudice, hatred, and ultimately, mass murder to occur" (United State Holocaust Memorial Museum).

To remember this occurrence many museums all over the world were built to express and define this outrageous event. The United State Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington DC, is built to a reminiscence and teaching of the Holocaust. The museum’s obligation is not only "to promote education about the history of the Holocaust and its implications for our lives today," yet also to keep the memory alive of those who suffered (United State Memorial Museum). The best way to achieve this is in the actual walking through this time period, which is presented in the exhibitions. The main exhibit, in the USHMM, called the permanent exhibition shows the story of the Holocaust through films, photos, and artifacts. This exhibit is not appropriated towards younger kids because it shows actual killings, forcing of labor, and the starving Jews caused by the unfair treatment towards the Jews. Kids thirteen or younger are not allowed in this exhibit.

In schools today, many young kids from ages eight and older are learning about the story of the Holocaust. Establishing an exhibit just for kids, allowing them to see how the Holocaust began and how it affected the kids of their time, is what the "Daniel’s Story: Remember the Children" exhibit is all about. This exhibition displays the tale of the Holocaust from the view of a young, fictional, Jewish child growing up in Nazi Germany (United State Memorial Museum). It recreates the actual environment of the child’s home before the German Nazis came and invaded their place to the concentration camps where they were forced to live. Ivette Nessim, states that "the exhibit personalizes the Holocaust by allowing the viewer to concentrate on one of the millions who experienced the horror," (Nessin,1). This exhibit is shown towards young children is excellent; it provides a way of teaching them the history of the holocaust by allowing them to relive the moment and understand how it would feel to live during that time period.

The arrangement of the exhibit, permits you to walk through Daniel's and his family’s lives during the Holocaust era. The beginning of the exhibit shows the "good" times when different races were one and were treated like one. Daniel could play outdoors with the other kids, his parent’s businesses went wonderful, and they were allow to shop anywhere. Also, the sky was shinning, t he people’s faces were happy, and life then was nice. Yet, walking further through the exhibit life begins to change. Life is not always beautiful and pleasant. "Not every product in the past was lovingly hand-crafted, not every past era was peaceful and simple, and life in the past did not always proceed in a happy, blissfully secure environment," (Schlereth,1). One of Thomas J. Schlereth’s six fallacies of historical analysis, written in the "Artifacts and the American Past" relates to this exhibit, that History is nostalgia. History is nostalgia is the "assumption that history should sing the praises of the "good old days" (Schlereth,1). Continuing through the exhibit, the Jews became separated from the rest by wearing yellow stars on their clothes and were treated different from the rest. Now, Daniel was not allowed to attend the German school or play outdoors with his friends. His parents were forced to shut down their business. The world turned gloomy, houses were burned, the smilies on people’s faces were wiped away. The Jews were allow only in certain stores and areas, and the Holocaust era began.

Also, another one of Schlereth’s six fallacies of historical analysis relates to this exhibit, fallacy number five: history is simple. The exhibit is drawn to younger kids and they want to show them the history of the past but in a simple way. Therefore, the exhibit was not complex and in detail. Instead, it shows the main points yet in a simple way the kids can associate; from another child’s view. In that sense, the exhibit expresses that "history is simple." Even though it was known that life is not simple, it has its ups and downs.

Museums today are focused on teaching the world history of the past, present and future by visualizing the actual evidence through artifacts, films, and photos. "The ultimate goal is to make their work meaningful to the visitors and to push forward the public’s appreciation of history and its importance in their lives," (Crew, 84). Hence, the form of presentation through the exhibits have changed to meet this "ultimate goal." Spencer Crew expresses, in "Who Owns History?: History in the Museum," that " the appreciation of these new approaches was not as widespread as we had thought. Indeed, we have found that some quarters these ideas were seen as troubling and not in concert with the historical perspectives and expectations brought by some of our visitors. For them, some of our exhibition could be problematic." In the USHMM, the exhibit Daniel’s Story is the opposite from the idea; it was positive and convincing.

After walking through the exhibit and viewing the artifacts, I believe that no one could come out confused. The exhibit is simple and straight forward. Too much detail and/or information was not presented in this exhibit. At the end of the exhibit, kids were allowed to write a note to Daniel and his father (the ones that survived at the end) expressing their feelings. Reading through the notes, from the kids, shows that the ultimate goal was presented. The labor and strain put into this exhibit was significant. Some of the notes mentioned how they, the kids, understood the unfair treatments the Jews were faced, and they can learn from this past mistake. They only hope that everyone else can and that way we can prevent this from ever happening again. There were some notes saying they feel from Daniel and his family and hope he is doing fine now. Therefore, the exhibit succeeded its ultimate goal; that their efforts were appreciated and most important that his past history effect's our live's today.

Some exhibition must be cautious to not overwhelm the visitors with too much information. Ellen Denker states, in "Evaluation Exhibitions," one thing very important is to decide whether "an exhibition has crossed the line from educational experience to carnival sideshows? When does creating an exciting environment for learning become pandering to public fancy?" (Denker, 389). Daniel’s Story did not cross the line. It did not "embody too many academic ideas or "was missing any academic documents," (Denker, 388). The exhibit shows enough information to keep a child’s attention span. There were two films shown, one at the beginning which attracted the child to want to continue to see the rest of the exhibit. Also, one at the end which lead the child to want to know how it all ended. The films were not more than two to three minutes long, just enough time before the child wants to move on to something new. The artifacts were "well-chosen objects which were wrapped in a captivating design image that is easy for the average visitors to understand," (Denker 390). Daniel’s room, kitchen, home, diary, streets, his parent’s business were some of the artifacts that allowed the visitors to adopt to the living situation, at that time period, and allowed the visitors to get a better understanding of what happened. "The best history exhibitions are not didactic, but metaphorical" and "as with any fictive product, the intellectual concept or idea that informs the original intent must be translated into the expressive symbolic, and representational language of the medium itself," (Denker, 390). The way this exhibit was structured made it not didactic, yet more metaphorical. Instead, the permanent exhibition which had too much academic, moral, and instructive information, the children exhibit showed more symbolic, expressive, and illustrative information. The permanent exhibit tended to cross the lines from education experience to carnival sideshows.

After I viewed the Daniel’s Story, I decided to continue and see other exhibits in the USHMM. One exhibit called "Kovno Ghetto" was filled with too much information. I found myself skipping over a lot of important information just to finish the exhibit. Also, the films they showed were too long even for an adult, I personally could not watch one whole one through. On the other hand, Daniel’s Story, I could not remember myself once wanting to move on just to finish the exhibit. Instead, I wanted to view the exhibit a second time, that is how touching I found it. Thus this exhibit, was not a carnival sideshow.

The many different activities in this exhibit Daniel’s Story, allowed the visitors to feel and see how live was back then.. This exhibit ‘s creatively was moving. Like Fred Wilson a "38-year-old who has suddenly become a leading force in a new movement by museums to reexamine themselves, their past roles, and their present places in society," (Garfield, 47). His artistic work was put into use to make exhibits of art. Through his creative work the museum had an affect on the visitors. "It showed how art is just not that separated from people. It also shows museums can make a difference in society and make a change" (Garfield, 49). Daniel’s Story exhibit showed many creative arts throughout the exhibit. Throughout the exhibit were pages from Daniel’s dairy to it share his feeling about what was happening. There where windows that you can open up to see the difference. For example, the closed windows shows a picture of his parent’s business before the Nazis invaded. Then once you open the picture, you see when the Nazis took over. You view the "difference" ; how they were forced to close the shop and how the Nazis threw rocks on all Jewish businesses. It allowed the visitors to touch most all of the artifacts; knowing that children love to touch things. Whereas in the older museums, none of the artifacts were touchable; they were all covered by window. At the end, there was an activity were the children could review everything they saw. It was a phone booth with photos of the major events. The child is to pick up the phone, listen, and follow the directions. The recording on the phone would ask the children questions. (For example, Who were the Nazis? Who was Daniel? Who survived out of Daniel’s family? How were the Jews treated?…) Following to the question were pictures which might help the children remember. Overall, the museum was very aesthetic or artistic.

"Museums are under constant pressure after their grand opening that are partly communal and partly of political character," (Weinberg and Elieli, 172). The fundings of the museums are given by corporations, ethnic associations, and wealthy individual or families. The many people who donated their money to the making of the USHMM have a say in how the structure is decided, or what goes into each exhibit. Some of the political demands are because of the "underrepresented aspects in public programs, and sometimes in special temporary exhibitions," (Weinberg and Elieli, 172). In 1979, the Holocaust museum was represented and choosen in the United State Holocaust Memorial Council and its "mission was to alarm the pubilc whenever actions of genocide or mass killings where perpetrated anywhere in the world, or when danger of such actions was perceived" (Weinberg and Elieli, 175). One thing to remember is that "the political function is an attachment to the basic museological operation of the Museum, and not vice versa. " ‘Overheating’ the political aspect would, in the long run, damage its image as a professional museum and consequently impair its ability to function as a voice of morality in American society," (Weinberg and Elieli, 175).

Daniel’s Story: Remember the Children, was an superior exhibit. I enjoyed every moment of it. I highly recommend all parents to take their children, to see an emotional yet educational exhibit of the Holocaust built for the children of the future. The Holocaust is a touching event in many people’s lives today. The United State Holocaust Memorial Museum is doing a wonderful job enlightening the world, of the Holocaust Era. Ivette Nessim states that the Daniel's Story ,in USHMM, "is for the children that this exhibit exists, and it is for the children that this museum was ultimately built, for the living." (Nessim, 1).
Works Cited

Denker, Ellen Paul. "Evaluating Exhibitions."

Garsfield, Donald. "Making the Museum Mine: An interview with Fred Wilson." Museum News May/June 1993: 46-49.

Nessim, Ivette. "Ivette Nessim-Danile's Story." http://www.otal.umd.edu/~pw16/paper2.html (September 28, 1998).

Schlereth, Thomas J. Artifacts and the American Past. Nashville, TN:AASLH Press, 1980, pp. 208-217).

Spencer R. Crew. The History teacher. "Who Owns History?: history in the Museum." New York: Spencer Crew, 1996. Volume 30, number 1.

"United States Holocaust Museum ." Smithsonian Institution. http://www.ushmm.org/misc-bin/add_goback/mission.html (October 29, 1998).

Wallace, Mike. Mickey Mouse History. Philadelphia: Temple U. Press, 1996.

Weinberg, Jeshajahu and Elieli, Rina. The Holocaust Museum in Washington. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1995.

Bibliography

Marks, Jane. The Hidden Children: The Secret Survivors of the Holocaust . New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1993.

Linenthal, Edward T. Preserving Memory:The Struggle to Creat America's Holocaust Museum. New York: Vicking Penguin, 1995.

Yahil, Leni. The Holocaust, The faith of the European Jewry . Oxford: Oxford university Press, 1987.

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