Boston 2008 - Day 3 - Aug 6 - The Holocaust Memorial

[This topic and portion of our trip, I felt, deserved it's own page in my journal]

We also went to the Boston Holocaust Memorial. I cried, like I usually do at these kinds of things.
There are six pillars, each with one million numbers, representing the tattooed #s on each victim of the Holocaust. It was beautiful and touching. Overwhelming, actually. 6 million people. There are some amazing quotes from survivors all through the park, many of which discuss the tragedy of inaction.

There was a family there who took photos of the smiling children in front of the entrance to the memorial. I found it disrespectful and cheap.

I've kind of had an onslaught of Holocaust information in the the last week or so and I'm a bit emotionally spent from it all. I suppose that's okay.

Memorials, stories and memories are how things like this do not melt away into nothing and become forgotten or glamorized.

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Notes from after the trip:
* The reason I'd had such an onslaught of Holocaust info is because I had just watched Freedom Writers and the whole movie sort of revolves around the idea of how a Holocaust comes to fruition. I have a huge spot in my heart for the Holocaust for many reasons...currently (and for the last few years) it has been because so many of the people that survived those atrocities are now starting to die and I do not want their stories to die with them. I wish I had endless time and resources and could hunt down every survivor in the US and document their stories.

* I made it VERY clear to Todd that we will NEVER cheapen these memorials by taking photos of ourselves or our children on, in, near or around them. That is not what this is for. And frankly when I saw that family, I was disgusted by their lack of respect. It was trashy, to say the very least.