Washington DC Attractions

US Holocaust Memorial Museum

One of the city’s best museums, but also the most disturbing, is the US Holocaust Memorial Museum that hauntingly commemorates the discrimination and murder of millions of Jews by the Nazis, from 1933 to 1945. The permanent exhibition is divided into three floors, starting with the Nazi occupation of Poland, the Holocaust, and finally the after effects of the war and liberation of the camps, with a moving film in which Holocaust survivors recount their personal experiences. The Hall of Remembrance is a quiet meditative place with dozens of burning candles lit in memory of the victims. Exhibits vividly convey the scale and nature of the horrors of the Holocaust using films, voice recordings, personal belongings of Jewish victims, photographs and Nazi propaganda. The permanent exhibition’s graphic content is extremely disturbing and is not recommended for children under 11 years of age. A different section of the museum contains an exhibit designed for children, called ‘Daniel’s Story: Remember the Children’.

Address: 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place; Website: www.ushmm.org; Telephone: (202) 488 0400; and (800) 400 9373 (Advance Tickets); Transport: Smithsonian metro station; Opening time: Daily 10am to 5.30pm; Admission: Free. A ticket is necessary for the permanent exhibition. Advance Tickets are recommended and can be purchased from TicketMaster online (www.tickets.com) or by phone, but a service fee is charged