Diary 49

Dear Diary,

I am so exhausted from yesterday! We got to spend a whole day with

Zlata and Mirna. Our marathon day started at 7 A.M. and I didn’t get home

until 10 P.M. last night. Or was it 11 P.M.? Even though I’m exhausted, I

can’t wait to spend another day with them!

Our day began with a breakfast by the “Dream Team Moms.” These are

the dedicated moms who have adopted our class as their kids. After we had

breakfast we left in buses to Los Angeles. It was my first time in a charter

bus. The buses were air-conditioned, had televisions, a VCR, and lights that

we could turn on and off at our seats! Plus a bathroom!! A big difference

from school buses!

Soon we got to the Museum of Tolerance, our first stop. For many, it

was their first time there, but this was my second time. During our freshman

year we went straight to the museum’s theater to watch This time we had a

private tour of the museum.

The museum focuses on stereotypes, prejudice, genocide, the history of

intolerance. There were comic strips to show us some examples of how

people are misjudged and how our negative thoughts can lead to violence.

Plus there was a section of worn out shoes each representing a victim of the

Holocaust.

During the tour, I received a passport with a child’s face and name.

Throughout the museum you get to find out what happens to them. Each

room I went into, I would slip my passport into a computer and it would tell

me the fate of the child. Some of my friends had passports where the child

died. Many of us cried during the tour.

After we came out of the museum, the ground was wet from the rain. It

seems like the rain was a symbol of tears from those who had died. As

though they were crying out their tears of sorrows and stories to us.

After the tour, we went to Lawry’s “The House of Prime Ribs” for

lunch. It is located in Beverly Hills. I was afraid to touch anything because I

might break something. The dining tables had a candle with fresh flowers

and the napkins folded in the fanciest way. The seats were made of real

leather, they weren’t sticky or smelly like some restaurants I have been to.

Lawry’s treated us like royalty! The chef came around with food in a heated

cart to serve us prime rib. Even the restroom was decorated with fresh

flowers. One thing’s for sure, it was a lot nicer than our school’s restrooms,

which constantly smell like cigarettes and have makeup stains on the

mirrors and sink. Sometimes you will find the sinks clogged up with paper

towels or see wadded toilet paper hanging from the ceiling.

Once we were as stuffed as pigs, we went back to the museum to watch

a private screening of Schindler’s List. Oskar Schindler started out as a man

who wore his gold Nazi pin with pride. He couldn’t care less about the Jews

and others being rounded up and taken away in crowded cattle cars. During

one of the Jewish round-ups, he saw a little girl in a red petticoat. She stood

out from everyone because the movie is in black and white. She was

running away from the chaos and hiding. A few days later he found her

dead with a pile of other bodies ready to be thrown into the fire. That’s

when he started to try to save every Jew he could with the money he had.

By the end, he had saved over a thousand Jews.

The movie made Night, The Wave, and The Diary of a Young Girl

come alive. One of my friends actually said he had a flashback about the

death of one of his friends. He said that the little girl’s red coat reminded

him of his friend’s blood. It made me realize that senseless violence doesn’t

only happen in history books or movies.

After the movie, we headed to the Century City Marriott Hotel to have

a reception for Holocaust survivors and ourselves. The Holocaust survivor

at our table showed us his tattoo and it made me wonder if he ever tried to

hide it from others. I wanted to know: What he was thinking everyday in the

camp? What was his greatest fears? Did he ever think of suicide? I wanted

to ask, but I was too nervous and I thought my questions were stupid.

Near the end of dinner, students introduced the Holocaust survivors

sitting with them and told us the most interesting information about their

experiences. Some of my questions were actually answered, but there will

always be more.

I feel that reading the books gave me a foundation for this piece of

history, but today’s marathon with the museum, the movie, and especially

meeting all the survivors gave me a better understanding of the Holocaust.

I’m glad they survived to tell us their stories and pass the baton. My

fingertips are still tingling!

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