After arriving at Waterloo Station in Central London, I made my way to the Imperial War Museum. Once inside I was enthralled by the sheer size of the interior. When you walked in there was a massive fighter plane hanging from the ceiling. From the main entrance you had a variety of ways you could go. I choose to start on the second floor.
On the second floor you had various exhibits about World War II. These exhibits took you through World War II in an immense amount of detail. There were also various war machines and vehicles that you could observe. What I thought was rather interesting was that no one cared to read the sign that said not to touch or sit on any of the vehicles or war equipment. Instead people were putting their hands all over them, like these were some kind of interactive object.
The third floor was the most impressive. On this floor there were two exhibits that really stood out to me, the Holocaust Exhibit and the Art Exhibit. I started first in the Art Exhibit, these were a collection of paintings done after the war, to show the sacrifices that the brave men and women had to endure. One that stood out to me the most was a helmet with an inscription on it. It read: "Gun kills...." various sets of tall marks and then "personal kills" and various sets of tally marks. It goes to show how much war can change a person.
There were also various art works done on newspapers, showing everyday people who contributed to the war effort. I was just surprised that a person could put so much detail into an art work on a piece of newspaper.
The Holocaust Exhibit was a very disturbing and upsetting place. Inside there were extremely graphic photographs of Jews in the concentration camps. As you walked through you could hear recordings of various survivors experiences in the concentration camps.
As you moved further along they had a recreation of a train box cart used for transporting Jews to the concentration camps. Once inside you could see the wood was blood stained and worn. There was barley any space to move around as it was, and the floor boards squeaked with each step you took. It was a very impactful experience.
In addition to the recreation of the train box cart there was also this large glass casing filled with shoes and various other objects that were taken away from the Jews when they arrived at the concentration camp. Mainly shoes comprised this casing, but even the shoes in themselves sent just as powerful impact as the various objects did.
I have always read about the concentration camps, but going through this exhibits has given me a whole new perspective on the event. I learned things about the concentration camps that I did not know before. For instance, the Nazi's would salvage what they could out of the corpses. This could be anything from taking the teeth made of gold that some Jews had, to using the ashes of their corpses as ground fertilizer.
After leaving this exhibit I had to sit down for a few minutes, because I was overtaken by this sadness and anger. I could not believe that people would let this happen.
I then proceeded to the ground floor where there was an exhibit on World War I. Although this exhibit was not nearly as well done as the WWII one was, it was still impressive none the less.
Most notably there was a recreation of a trench in which you could walk through. It felt very realistic walking through the trench.
I would definitely recommend visiting the Imperial War Museum if you ever get a chance!
After I finished at the Imperial War Museum I made my way to the Natural History Museum. This museum was designed mainly for children so I did not find it very appealing at all. I mean sure there were dinosaur fossils and some really neat crystalized rocks, but other than that it was nothing that special.
I am not sure what exactly I will be doing tomorrow. I might be going into Central for Chinese New Years.
On the second floor you had various exhibits about World War II. These exhibits took you through World War II in an immense amount of detail. There were also various war machines and vehicles that you could observe. What I thought was rather interesting was that no one cared to read the sign that said not to touch or sit on any of the vehicles or war equipment. Instead people were putting their hands all over them, like these were some kind of interactive object.
The third floor was the most impressive. On this floor there were two exhibits that really stood out to me, the Holocaust Exhibit and the Art Exhibit. I started first in the Art Exhibit, these were a collection of paintings done after the war, to show the sacrifices that the brave men and women had to endure. One that stood out to me the most was a helmet with an inscription on it. It read: "Gun kills...." various sets of tall marks and then "personal kills" and various sets of tally marks. It goes to show how much war can change a person.
There were also various art works done on newspapers, showing everyday people who contributed to the war effort. I was just surprised that a person could put so much detail into an art work on a piece of newspaper.
The Holocaust Exhibit was a very disturbing and upsetting place. Inside there were extremely graphic photographs of Jews in the concentration camps. As you walked through you could hear recordings of various survivors experiences in the concentration camps.
As you moved further along they had a recreation of a train box cart used for transporting Jews to the concentration camps. Once inside you could see the wood was blood stained and worn. There was barley any space to move around as it was, and the floor boards squeaked with each step you took. It was a very impactful experience.
In addition to the recreation of the train box cart there was also this large glass casing filled with shoes and various other objects that were taken away from the Jews when they arrived at the concentration camp. Mainly shoes comprised this casing, but even the shoes in themselves sent just as powerful impact as the various objects did.
I have always read about the concentration camps, but going through this exhibits has given me a whole new perspective on the event. I learned things about the concentration camps that I did not know before. For instance, the Nazi's would salvage what they could out of the corpses. This could be anything from taking the teeth made of gold that some Jews had, to using the ashes of their corpses as ground fertilizer.
After leaving this exhibit I had to sit down for a few minutes, because I was overtaken by this sadness and anger. I could not believe that people would let this happen.
I then proceeded to the ground floor where there was an exhibit on World War I. Although this exhibit was not nearly as well done as the WWII one was, it was still impressive none the less.
Most notably there was a recreation of a trench in which you could walk through. It felt very realistic walking through the trench.
I would definitely recommend visiting the Imperial War Museum if you ever get a chance!
After I finished at the Imperial War Museum I made my way to the Natural History Museum. This museum was designed mainly for children so I did not find it very appealing at all. I mean sure there were dinosaur fossils and some really neat crystalized rocks, but other than that it was nothing that special.
I am not sure what exactly I will be doing tomorrow. I might be going into Central for Chinese New Years.
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