Exhibition and memory have had an unbreakable connection since the beginning of the recording of history. The medieval age saw the creation of formal archives by aristocrats and royals and the early modern age saw the beginnings of public libraries and archives. The display and exhibition of an historical event can affect the interest of the future public and the preservation of the event.

In October, the “Historian’s Workshop Seminar” ventured to Washington D.C. to visit the United States Holocaust Museum located on the National Mall. The museum (and the event it captures) is dedicated an ultimately foreign tragedy, yet its influence and the education it provides can be deemed more than useful for the modern day American public. The museum not only gives insight on the horrors of humanity but provides a fascinating example for the relationship between exhibition and memory.

We entered the museum and found ourselves in a large atrium filled with school children, tour guides, and interested visitors. The architecture of the museum reflected an industrial approach and with closer observation the architecture ominously looks similar to the same industrial styles of concentration camps. The atrium is decorated with faded brick with thick iron metal accents without real symmetry. To the museum goer, you might feel as though you are in the midst of a factory or at a railroad car barn. Both of these locations have significance in the Holocaust as railroads played a huge part in the transport of Jews across Europe and factories as the victims of the Holocaust were in some camps worked for cheap war labor.  The ceiling of the atrium is of glass girded with metal beams showing light in the midst of the memory. It also metaphorically shows light on a subject that needs to be shared and brought into the forefront of the human mind.

Having visited Dachau last spring, I fully remember the resemblance of the museum to the camps. The choice in architecture simulates the structure and gives the museum goer an environment with which to fully understand the grave material being presented. At Dachau, I recall the first thing I noticed was the plainness of the camp as the Nazis did not embellish any buildings whatsoever. All buildings were a drab, off white color with simple structures. I am sure there is no coincidence that the most ornate building on the concentration camp is the red brick gas chamber which is separated from the rest of the camp. The chamber resembles the same bricks and industrially ornate look accomplished by the museum. According to the museum website, the atrium and general museum architecture is meant to be interpreted by the visitor as they take in the metaphor of the architecture. I can’t imagine the planners not using this style to further immerse the visitor to gain an experience where they could (to the best of their ability) gain the imitation to the camps.

The layout of the museum is very intentional as the first thing seen when riding the elevator up into the exhibit is a pile of decaying bodies of those murdered by the Nazis. I visited the museum in high school but as I had seen a concentration camp since, the pictures and films of spots where I stood were that much more real to me. The museum exhibit is designed to walk visitors down relatively narrow corridors putting observers in close proximity to the horrors of the Holocaust.

The exhibit is organized chronologically starting from the rise of Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party in the early 1930s to their demise and the liberation of concentration camps.

The visitor gains an interactive experience within the museum due to the close proximity and the multiple audio visuals provided. One of the most powerful pieces of the exhibit is on the exit as the words “Never Forget” are placed in large print.

The United States Holocaust Museum provides a powerful example of the use of exhibition and memory. The visitor can’t forget the experience after visiting the museum due to its layout, its dark artifacts, and its architecture.

For more information on the United States Holocaust Museum, its exhibits, and the building’s history, go to http://www.ushmm.org or read James Lilienthal’s book, Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America’s Holocaust Museum.