Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Tuesday - Pt 1

Tuesday was a busy day by anyone's standards. Even more so by my lazy do-nothing standards.

First thing in the morning, I jumped in the car and drove to Jerusalem. The big Tel Aviv Vs Jerusalem divide is huge here, a bit like the Sydney-Melbourne one back in Australia. The big difference is that Israel is way way smaller. It almost feels a bit silly, seeing that they are almost suburbs of each other. Forty five minute drive in medium traffic, you can probably do it in thirty with a bit of luck and slight disregard to the rules of the road.

Anyway, made it in no time and went to see Yad Vashem - the Israeli Holocaust Museum.

The place is truly impressive, in a harrowing and sobering way obviously. Not an awful lot you can say about it besides count your blessings about not being born there and then. And ponder about the depths of human evil and whether we will get that deep again.

There are screens scattered all over the place with survivors telling their stories. It's pretty amazing how realistic it makes the whole thing- I mean these people tell about their experiences 60 or 70 years ago, remembering every minute horrific detail as if it happened that morning. Then, at the end of the exhibition is the Hall of Names - a huge hall with files over files listing the names of people who perished in the holocaust. I am talking thousands of folders - millions of names. And the scary thing is that there are probably millions of people, whose names we will never know. People from communities that have disappeared altogether off the face of the earth.

Then you walk through the last door to find yourself almost suspended midair, looking at the blue horizon and green expenses of Jerusalem...

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