From the Holocaust to the Capitol - Reflections from My 2023 DMVNE
One of the experiences that resonated with me the most from the DMV National Excursion was our visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). I got the full, unfiltered story of what happened during the Holocaust. Throughout my 17 years of life, the Holocaust was never something that I was taught about in school. It was an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation for me, even though it was a significant part of many people’s history.
USHMM is dedicated to spotlighting the millions of Jewish people impacted by the Holocaust. The museum deep dives into the past and provides multiple ways to view history, including models of the gas chambers and crematoriums, searchable databases, “passports” of Jewish people, life-sized models, and more. At first, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information, but Aaron helped provide further context, shared stories from Holocaust survivors he knew, and answered my questions. Having access to so many different ways to view such an essential time in history made it much easier to grasp and empathize with.
Another stop on our excursion that resonated and entertained me was our visit to the U.S. Capitol Building. It was so much bigger than I imagined it in pictures. I had always imagined it was just a bunch of offices and cubicles, but it was spacious and nicely decorated. It never occurred to me that they would have multiple tours there daily. While in the center of the building, we looked up at the Rotunda to see a fresco called The Apotheosis of Washington by Constantino Brumidi. The painting is essentially about George Washington becoming a god. Around the circumference of the bottom of the Rotunda is a painted panorama called The Frieze of American History. One of the painters, Filippo Costaggini, painted his face into the painting in a tree trunk; because of that, he was fired for breaking the rule of no self-implementation in the Capitol’s artwork.
OLASTEO provided me with a perfect mix of learning and fun, where we could go from learning a dark piece of world history to touring our nation’s Capitol building and learning about its art-filled walls.
