a disturbing aspect of European history dealt with sensitively (Imperial War Museum (London))

Member Name: siantone

Product:	Imperial War Museum (London)
Date:	20/05/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: rich and moving experience

Disadvantages: be aware that the objects and stories are disturbing

The Imperial War Museum has a longterm commitment to present the many stories connected to the Holocaust.

The galleries are in a discrete location in the museum and are not recommended for visitors under the age of 14 because of the deeply disturbing nature of the material on display and narratives.

The galleries deal with the Nazi persecution of the Jewish community before and during the Second World War but it also handles the state endorsed intolerance of other groups in society including Gypsies, political radicals and homosexuals.

Unlike watching a documentary or reading a book, the most powerful aspect of the visit is the bewildering array of objects connected to real people. The objects range from film footage, photographs, personal possessions, oral testimony, religious artefacts, letters, clothing to bigger individual pieces such as a deporation railway carriage and a funeral cart that moved bodies in the Warsaw Ghetto. Especially moving are the showcase full of personal items of clothing such as shoes for concentration camps. Equally impressive is a model-maker's faithful miniature reconstruction of Auschwitz, giving visitors an overview of the scale of Nazi operation.

As one of the IWM curators once said these galleries are not about someone else's history, they tell stories that affect us all whether we are Jewish or not.

Summary: a powerful museum experience