Would anyone take a very young child to a Holocaust Museum?

[jkm]

Took some time off last week. We sat & ate before our Disney on Ice Show.

The mom across us was casually chatting on the phone about the site they had just visited, a Holocaust memorial near two train stops in Boston. The youngest had to be no more than 7.

Would any of you take a child that young to such an exhibit? How would you explain it if you did? One of the characteristics of the exhibit is steam comes up from vents to simulate the presence of poison gas. There is a written memorial to those who perished. My daughter is almost 6. I can't imagine trying to explain the purpose of this exhibit to her.

My personal opinion is this: there is a time and place for everything, and I think education about this particular time period is more appropriate for middle school and older kids.

Were I trying to raise a Jewish child, wouldn't it be better to start with the prophets Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Christian, how about learning the Bible, even a children's' copy with illustrations? Aren't the single digit years a little young to be learning about, say, the persecution of Christians in Communist or Muslim majority countries?

Especially considering how horrific the crimes of the Holocaust were...starvation, medical experimentation, what was manufactured as a pesticide being used to kill humans...it shocks me when I hear of kids my daughters' age visiting Holocaust museums.

Those with kids, would you take them to such a place early on? Personally I am going to wait to educate my daughter about this most ominous period, like the junior high school years.

[VCaddy05]

Took some time off last week. We sat & ate before our Disney on Ice Show.

The mom across us was casually chatting on the phone about the site they had just visited, a Holocaust memorial near two train stops in Boston. The youngest had to be no more than 7.

Would any of you take a child that young to such an exhibit? How would you explain it if you did? One of the characteristics of the exhibit is steam comes up from vents to simulate the presence of poison gas. There is a written memorial to those who perished. My daughter is almost 6. I can't imagine trying to explain the purpose of this exhibit to her.

My personal opinion is this: there is a time and place for everything, and I think education about this particular time period is more appropriate for middle school and older kids.

Were I trying to raise a Jewish child, wouldn't it be better to start with the prophets Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Christian, how about learning the Bible, even a children's' copy with illustrations? Aren't the single digit years a little young to be learning about, say, the persecution of Christians in Communist or Muslim majority countries?

Especially considering how horrific the crimes of the Holocaust were...starvation, medical experimentation, what was manufactured as a pesticide being used to kill humans...it shocks me when I hear of kids my daughters' age visiting Holocaust museums.

Those with kids, would you take them to such a place early on? Personally I am going to wait to educate my daughter about this most ominous period, like the junior high school years.

Can't remember when I went there but it was early middle school or late elementary school. Probably around 5-6th grade. It was fine for us, and I thought it was excellent. I don't know if 7 is too early. Depends on the kid I guess, if he can be respectful than I would say its fine.

[Abe]

I wouldn't consider it for a child less than 12 years of age. Even then, the child would have to be very mature for their age.

[The Infamous Din]

I wouldn't consider it for a child less than 12 years of age. Even then, the child would have to be very mature for their age.

I remember being ready for it in high school, so I'm going to say15 by way of a +3.

[Abe]

I remember being ready for it in high school, so I'm going to say15 by way of a +3.

Sounds about right. In Israel kids visit the "Yad VaShem" Museum on a field trip in 7th Grade, but these kids have grown up with knowledge of the Holocaust. In many cases, they have living relatives who went through it.

In 11th/12th Grade, schools send kids to Poland to visit Auschwitz. The trip is called "The March of the Living".

[The Infamous Din]

Sounds about right. In Israel kids visit the "Yad VaShem" Museum on a field trip in 7th Grade, but these kids have grown up with knowledge of the Holocaust. In many cases, they have living relatives who went through it.

In 11th/12th Grade, schools send kids to Poland to visit Auschwitz. The trip is called "The March of the Living".

I had a friend who was fascinated with it back then. He turned out ok, but it seemed a little unhealthy at the time.

[Abe]

I had a friend who was fascinated with it back then. He turned out ok, but it seemed a little unhealthy at the time.

What with the news we've been getting lately, it would definitely be unsettling.

[The Infamous Din]

What with the news we've been getting lately, it would definitely be unsettling.

Do tell. I'm outta touch.

[Abe]

Do tell. I'm outta touch.

A kid shot up a school cafetaria. 3 dead, 2 in bad shape. Near Cleveland.

[jkm]

I had a friend who was fascinated with it back then. He turned out ok, but it seemed a little unhealthy at the time.

To me these museums are a shame as it seems other living, vibrant, fascinating periods of Jewish history go ignored. There have to be periods of this thousands of years old history to be learned from, yet the most visible museums are of the ugliest 12 years of the history.

The villainizing of the German people also seems misguided, as most architects of Nazism were Austrian, and Kiev, Ukraine, last I heard there was still a statue of Bogdan Chmielnicki, a notorious anti Semite, in the town's main square. The expression "beyond the pale" comes from Jews in Russia being pushed into the more remote parts of the Balkans, where there were far less resources for them to survive.

[Abe]

To me these museums are a shame as it seems other living, vibrant, fascinating periods of Jewish history go ignored. There have to be periods of this thousands of years old history to be learned from, yet the most visible museums are of the ugliest 12 years of the history.

The villainizing of the German people also seems misguided, as most architects of Nazism were Austrian, and Kiev, Ukraine, last I heard there was still a statue of Bogdan Chmielnicki, a notorious anti Semite, in the town's main square. The expression "beyond the pale" comes from Jews in Russia being pushed into the more remote parts of the Balkans, where there were far less resources for them to survive.

While I agree with much of what you say, the various Holocaust Museums have a function. They are intended to highlight the fact that this monstrous behaviour took place as recently as the 20th Century. It's an attempt to prevent it from happening again.

[khigh]

I will be taking my daughter next year (she will be 6) to DC and the Holocaust Museum will be one of our stops, as well as Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Memorial.

She has been to the OKC Memorial a few times, and though it was hard to explain to her, she learned about it when she had just turned 4. She asked questions and I told her the truth. Then, we laid a teddy bear on the fence with all of the other memorials for the 16 children lost that day.

[Abe]

I will be taking my daughter next year (she will be 6) to DC and the Holocaust Museum will be one of our stops, as well as Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Memorial.

She has been to the OKC Memorial a few times, and though it was hard to explain to her, she learned about it when she had just turned 4. She asked questions and I told her the truth. Then, we laid a teddy bear on the fence with all of the other memorials for the 16 children lost that day.

If you feel she's ready... you're her mom.

[The Infamous Din]

A kid shot up a school cafetaria. 3 dead, 2 in bad shape. Near Cleveland.

High school seems like a very bad idea to me.

[The Infamous Din]

To me these museums are a shame as it seems other living, vibrant, fascinating periods of Jewish history go ignored. There have to be periods of this thousands of years old history to be learned from, yet the most visible museums are of the ugliest 12 years of the history.

The villainizing of the German people also seems misguided, as most architects of Nazism were Austrian, and Kiev, Ukraine, last I heard there was still a statue of Bogdan Chmielnicki, a notorious anti Semite, in the town's main square. The expression "beyond the pale" comes from Jews in Russia being pushed into the more remote parts of the Balkans, where there were far less resources for them to survive.

The evil continues, despite the museums. We see it in the youth and in the clinics.