I went to the Museum of Jewish Heritage for my Art History class last week. The museum was in Battery Park, Lower Manhattan. We took a school bus that day from Baruch College and when we arrived, the atmosphere of the museum was resonating. The area was very quiet, but you could hear the water from its fountains. After going through the security, we were assigned tour guides that were very educated about Jewish culture and the Holocaust. They explained the meaning of every artwork and the history behind it.
We first looked at the Torah Scroll, it was this huge scroll that was the bible for Jews. We looked at many of the artworks and we tried applying the terms we learned to the art. Our art history professor taught us the history about one of the sculptures called “The Flame.” The sculpture was a “relief” because the sculptures of the people were popping out of the wall. Another painting was called “This is Nazi Brutality” by Ben Shahn and it was crazy because we had learned about it in class. The painting was the actual real painting, it wasn’t a replica or a copy. The painting was actually part of the study guide for the midterm.
At the end of the tour guide, we all sat to listen to a real holocaust survivor. She talked about her life and how she hid from the Nazis. She was the only survivor left in her family and she wanted to pass down her story. She was a Baruch College graduate and it was very inspirational listening to her talk. Many of the students got emotional from listening. She asked us to help change the world and make it a better place, so that something like the Holocaust will never happen again.
