Field Trip with Madison

Yesterday I had the privilege to spend the entire day with Madison.  We went on her school field trip... well sorta.  We were told by the school to head down on our own and meet them at the Museum of Tolerance.  We left the same time the bus did... a little after 8am. 

We arrived at the museum a little after 10.  When we checked in we were told that the schools arrival time was "12:06 pm"  What?  2 more hours?  The kind lady said that we could go ahead and start the tour on our own and join our group when they arrived if we would like.

So Madison and I headed down stairs to start our tour.  We went to the Tolerance Tour first.  There were a ton of kids in the area, so we went through it pretty quickly.  We could not see most of the displays because the number of kids.  Then we headed over to the Holocaust Tour.  It was AMAZING!  I did not know what to expect, but was very surprised that the tears flowed, not only from me, but from Madison.  When you start the tour, you are given a "passport" of a child.  You put it into a machine and it tells you a little about your child.  Both of our little girls were from Poland.  Mine from Krakow and Madison's from Warsaw.  (Krakow is not far from Kruzlowa where Mikes family immigrated from) Then you start the tour.  You learn all about the Nazi's and Hitler.  They even have this Nazi uniform (not sure if it is real)

Then half way through the tour, you get to put your card in another computer to see what is happening with your child.  Some of the kids were still living, some in camps, others escaped, but some were already dead.  Then as the tour continues there are a lot of really sad things that they show.  Definitely something you need to be aware of.  Now I know why they only take 8th graders to the museum from school.  At the end of the tour you get to put your card in the last computer and get a print out of your child and what happened to them.  My child had survived, but Madison's child had "disappeared."  But most of the kids on our tour had children who died.

Once the tour was over the tour guide, talked about other forms of anti-tolerance, including bullying.  Very appropriate for the school kids.  The tour was over so Madison and I headed up to the Anne Frank area.  It was really cool to see all the old toys and memorabilia.

I just loved this quote with her picture.

We then headed down stairs to check out the book store.  As we exited the elevator we were greeted by a lovely older woman.  She introduced herself to us as Gloria Ungar.  Then Madison said, are you the lady they were saying survived the Holocaust.  She replied "yes" and showed us the tattoo on her arm that she got from the concentration camp.  It was a surreal experience.  Here is a pic of Gloria (from the MOT website)

We definitely learned a lot yesterday.  I am glad that I had the opportunity to share this experience with Madison.