After spending time at The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., doing research in Caroline Ferriday’s archives for Lilac Girls and touring that vast, fascinating museum I thought I’d seen it all, until I visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage down in Manhattan’s financial district.
Created as a living memorial, it is designed in a lovely, soothing way, to celebrate the lives of those who perished in the holocaust. You can enjoy Andrew Goldsworthy’s zen-like stone garden, browse the many exhibits at your own pace and relax in a room where you can listen to survivors’ incredible stories over headphones,while overlooking the statue of liberty in the harbor, such a poignant combination.
The museum has an astonishing number of personal artifacts, my favorite part of the exhibitions. My favorite was a dress made by Thea Gottesmann, a young woman imprisoned in Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria.
Once American forces liberated the camp, they distributed fabric to the prisoners to make clothing with, to replace their dirty striped uniforms.Thea hand-stitched a skirt and blouse for herself, her mother and a friend. She wore the pieces on the trip back to her home in Vienna and made a bag from her old uniform to keep in case she found any food along the way.
Such a talented seamstress and such an inspiring story!
