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The Museum of Tolerance Fun Activity 2004 NASA SHARP Program California State University, Los Angeles Reported by: Kelly Chavez
Heart to Forget On Sunday August 1, 2004 the students of the NASA SHARP program accompanied by their RA's visited Simon Wiesenthal’s Museum of Tolerance. The museum, named after Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal, is an interactive experience dedicated to promoting peace, justice and tolerance. The two main themes of the museum are: The dynamics of racism and prejudice in America and the history of the Holocaust- the ultimate example of man’s inhumanity toward man.
Piled into an
elevator and not knowing what to expect, the sharp students led by their tour
guide first explored artifacts of the Holocaust, including letters of Anne
Frank’s, Nazi After a small introduction to the life of Simon Wiesenthal, the next stop was downstairs for the Tolerencenter. The Tolerencenter is an interactive exhibit that helps visitors to explore the injustices in their own lives. Our first activity would be chowing down on some food for thought in the Point of View Diner. The POV Diner served up a hearty dish of taking responsibility for one’s actions and speech and arose discussion about whether hate speech should be protected as free speech. Although students had various opinions on the subject, the experience was successful in making students aware of their actions and words toward others.
Right across
from the Point of View Diner was two walls of pictures and descriptions of i
The final, and
probably most moving stop was the Holocaust Center. This was an hour-long
interactive walk through the Holocaust from beginning to end. Before it began,
everyone was given a card with a child on it and at the end of the walk, you
would find out the fate of your child. Touching and informative, it began with a
walk through the streets of Berlin where people are discussing their thoughts on
Hitler and the War. An audio projector reveals their fate after the war. Next
was a look into Hitler’s regime as they discussed their plans for the Final
Solution.
The Museum of Tolerance impacted everyone in his or her own way. For some it was remembering the past, and others it was awareness for the present, but either way, we all benefited from the experience. There is no other place where one can go to learn such a valuable lesson through the tragedies of history.
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propaganda, and items belonging to those who lost their lives in concentration
camps. As the students observed the display of historical events, emotions were
surfacing based upon the exhibit that so vividly illustrated the tragedy that
had occurred. 
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acts that have taken place within the past few years. Injustice is not just a
problem of the past. Seeing such acts of hate brought awareness to the students
who possibly had not considered the prejudice that still exist today. Close to
that was a 16-screen video presentation about the civil rights, a movement that
achieved its goal without the use of violence. The presentation included video
and music clips from that time. The speakers ranged from the President to Martin
Luther King to those denied their basic human rights and fighting to gain them.
The film was an inspiring and enlightening. 
The
exhibit made you feel as if you were actually there at the time when it was
taking place. Then we walked through the ruins of Europe and to a camp much like
the ones from the war. The carpet turned into dirt and the dirt turned into
cement as all the students huddled together and walked into The Hall of
Testimony, where students watched movies and heard stories of those involved in
the Holocaust. After the movie had finished it was time to find out the fate of
our child. Many of them had survived out of luck or the kindness of another.
Today, a few even volunteer for the museum to tell their story.