The Holocaust Museum - Nov 21

We went to the Holocaust museum today. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? It was a horrible tragedy it is hard to understand that depth of man’s inhumanity and cruelty. I am glad that my kids have a knowledge and understanding of what transpired in Europe in that time and I am also sad for them, for this is a bleak and miserable knowledge to bear. I hope that we have all gained a renewed perspective on the world and see more clearly just how wonderful our lives have been.

The museum was excellent, as museum’s go. Well laid out, in chronological order with a mix of written, oral, and visual displays. Many images - too many, unfortunately - are ghastly. The thousands of shoes and hundreds of bales of human hair are haunting images that testify to the de-humanization of those poor Jewish souls who ended up in the death camps and were viewed as mere products for the Nazi war machine.

The day ended on a brighter note. Over dinner, we had a very good family discussion about some of the things that we had seen and learned that day. Prior to supper, Isaac was driving us a bit crazy. He was being so sullen and argumentative that he got yelled at by his Mum and then lectured by his father (honestly, I didn’t yell - this time). A lightbulb went off in my head when Isaac came to the table and started eating. on his plate, he had piled three large pieces of fried chicken, a large mound of mashed potatoes, almost an entire tomato that he had cut up and some chesse. Turns out that the kid was very hungry, which doesn’t excuse his bad behaviour but does help to explain it. He attacked his fo

od like it was going to be taken away from him at any instant and polished his plate. His behaviour was much improved for the rest of the evening. Discussing it later on, Sonya and I agreed that if he starts behaving badly in the future, we will just start shoving food at him.

After dinner, we had a call from my Dad so the kids each had a chat with Grampa. Following that, they telephoned Sonya’s Mum, Nana as the kids call her. The kids helped with dishes and making lunches for tomorrow. Just before bed time, while Sonya sat in bed blogging, the kids and I watched an episode of Corner Gas. Just a typical evening in the Reid trailer.