The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
Location: Washington DC
Event represented
The museum represents the Holocaust which was a genocide in the second world war when Nazi Germany with the help of its collaborators, extensively and systematically murdered more than six millions Jews in Europe. At the end of the genocide, more than two-thirds of the Jews in Europe had been wiped out. It is a civil right museum that memorizes the civil rights of the victims of the genocide, which were extensively violated.
The artifact in the museum
Below is a display of a uniform worn by the prisoners held in the concentration camps.
Below is a cattle car that was used to deport prisoners from the concentration camps
The significance of the above two artifacts is that they serve to show the agony and the struggle that prisoners in the consecration camps went through on the hand of the Nazi Germans. The reason why these artifacts were chosen was to serve a clear reminder of some of the events that took in the Holocaust period. I have a strong belief that the two artifacts represent the event they commemorate. For instance, a look at the uniform gives a clear cognitive image of how life was in the concentration camps.
The reason why a culture would choose to memorize this event is to serve as a source of respect to the people who suffered the brutality and to serve as a constant reminder to people on the need to respect civil rights. Memorization serves to preserve history in the society, pay respect to the victim and keep a positive cognitive image of events that took place in the past. After visiting the museum, I learned of the importance of commemoration as it helps in uniting the society and also prevents the reoccurrence of past bad events by acting as a constant reminder to the society.