The REAL Meaning of the 4th....

The 4th is just fireworks and hot dogs to most. Family gatherings. An extra day off of work. Splashing by the pool... It was that to me, but this year, it has taken on more...

The boys and I have been talking about going to the Holocaust Museum for quite some time. It seems that something always came up that stopped us from doing it. Nothing intentional. It was just that life seemed to always get in the way...Well, we finally managed to get there yesterday....

You see, getting my boys there was VERY important to me. It is part of WHO WE ARE. Even though I was raised by my mom and her parents, I know that 1/2 of my roots are seeded in the Jewish ancestry of my father. So, when my boys showed the strong interest that they had in WWII, I knew that it was CRUCIAL for them to know about our family's direct connection with the Holocaust....

I did not see my dad's parents very often. However, when I did, I LISTENED. It is WHAT I DO. My family history is very important to me. I have a GREAT memory. I catalog family stories in my head very well and store them for my children and grandchildren so that they are not lost and can live on....It is IMPORTANT for us to know about our family and who/what we are all about. That means a GREAT deal to me!

So, when we walked into the museum, we were a bit quiet. It was small and nothing like the museums that we had ever been to. It was dark and dreary. Tobey kept saying that it just made him so sad. I agreed. So many things that happened to kids. That was the thing that resignated most with me. Children....Harming, Murdering, Abusing....Children....After a while, Tylor made the conclusion, "Mom, the lucky ones were killed/died before they even made it to those camps." "Yes, Tylor, you are right." It broke my heart to expose my kids to something this bad, but I knew that this was something that they needed to see. My grandmother's sister was sent to our family because her entire family perished in the Holocaust. So, our family was DIRECTLY affected. It is important. They NEEDED to know. Not to mention the fact that they are now teens and they need to know how HATE can spread like wildfire and the dammage that one man can cause with his HATE....

It was a painful, heartwrenching experience. One we were ready for, but were exhausted from after we were done. When we walked out, we all placed a stone on the memorial and agreed that the 1.5 million children that died would be remembered in our efforts to NOT let hate ever hurt anyone else. I was proud of my boys and their effort to learn about a very dark time in which none of us are very proud to speak about.....

Though photography was not allowed inside, we were allowed to take a couple outside....

In 1997, the museum got an actual rail car that was used to transport Jews to the camps. We were told that they would put up to 200 people in these cars with no food or water and the small windows that they did have were sealed shut....1/3 were usually dead by the time the cars reached their destination....







The boat here was a MUCH happier sight. This was just given to our museum 2 years ago from Denmark. These boats were used by fishermen to save the Jewish children of Denmark. In the evenings, they would put 5-6 kids in the cargo area and sail them out to Sweden. This was done every night. By doing this, they managed to save 7000 children. The boys were happy to make the connection that Brennyn and Baylee's donor is from Denmark... :)