Seventh Grade Students visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage
Our seventh grade students had an incredible experience last week visiting the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Shown below are some thoughts from the students about their visit:
On Tuesday, January 8th, 2019, We went to The Museum Of Jewish History, A Living Memorial to The Holocaust. It was very educational and helped me know more about the Holocaust. At the museum, we saw a film about the ship St. Louis. This was a ship that transported 900 Jews after the Holocaust into the New World. The stories that were told made me feel connected to my ancestors.
One of my favorite parts were when we talked to a Holocaust survivor. The Holocaust survivor’s name was Pinchas Gutenberg. He told us about many people he's seen that were killed in front of him and how it was a very sad and devastating time for the Jews. We also saw “The Garden Of Stones”. It was a garden that was filled with 18 big stones with trees on top of them. There were 18 stones because, in Hebrew the number 18 stands for חי. The word חי means alive; like we kept Judaism alive. The trees were meant life; it gives Jews life.
In conclusion, we learned a lot about the Holocaust and how it was a devastating time for the Jews. Somehow our ancestors stayed alive and fought for the future generations. -S.E.
Today, my grade went to The Museum of Jewish Heritage. We were split up into groups of three. The educator with my group, was very nice. She liked to really explain how the people felt, and let us share what we knew and thought. This way helped us understand. That was something I liked. Another thing I liked was that the museum contained so many artifacts, which helped me and others picture the events easily. There is a lot of information I liked to learn at the museum. However, the most appealing thing to me was The Artificial Intelligence Machine.
The Artificial Intelligence Machine only had answers to questions of the Holocaust, but that was why we were there. The experience was very nice, educational, and interesting. The way it (the artificial intelligence machine) worked, was that you would speak into the microphone, asking a question, while pressing on a mouse. Then, recorded answers of a Holocaust survivor, Pinchas Gutenberg, would answer our questions of his life. I really enjoyed speaking up to the microphone, because I knew how perfectly the answers would be answered. We learned a lot about how the Jews were treated in concentration camps and how the life of the Jews changed from when the Holocaust began. I learned a lot from the answers of Pinchas Gutenberg.
Now that I know a lot of facts, I will share this information so that people will never forget it. It is important for others to know this information, because it will be forgotten. If it is forgotten, then people will deny that the Holocaust ever happened. They would also deny the Germans treating the Jews terribly. If they deny how horribly the Germans treated the Jews, we might have a war. A war isn’t only bad to lose something, but it will lead to other conflicts. So, make sure you are on top of reminding all about the Holocaust, or the past could happen again. It is important that I know thus now, thanks to The Museum of Jewish Heritage, because we must remind others before it is too late! - F.M.