We Are the Shoes, We Are the Last Witnesses

We Are the Shoes 
"We are the shoes, we are the last witnesses.
We are the shoes from grandchildren and grandfathers
From Prague, Paris, Amsterdam,
And because we are only made of fabric and leather
And not of blood and flesh, each one of us avoided the hellfire."
~ Yiddish poet Moses Schulstein

On the third floor of the permanent exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is one of the most impactful and moving museum exhibits that I have ever encountered. I first visited the museum several years ago, and this exhibit has stood out in my memory ever since.

One morning this summer we headed to the museum a couple of hours before it opened to the public in order to clean this exhibit. The shoe exhibit.

Thousands of pairs of shoes. Brown and dusty. Black and warped. Shoes from adults and shoes from the small feet of children. It's horrifying. It's haunting. It's memorable. The smell is arresting, and remains in your nostrils, sticks in your brain, long after you leave the room. It smells of rotting leather and it brings thousands of visitors to tears each year. When I speak to people who have been to the USHMM, they always remember this exhibit.


Majdanek
These shoes come from Majdanek, a concentration camp in eastern Poland. Majdanek was initially formed as forced labor camp, but was eventually used for extermination. Some 80,000 Jews, and 100,000 individuals altogether, died at Majdanek, many from the horrific living and working conditions and others from the systematic killings implemented by the SS.

Majdanek, the first major camp to be liberated, was liberated by the Soviets in July of 1944. Although the Germans attempted to destroy evidence of killing centers, they were unsuccessful with Majdanek because of its early liberation. Today the camp stands as a museum and memorial to the atrocities committed there.

Personal Victim's Belongings

After transportation to camps, victims were stripped of their belongings, including valuables and clothing. The forsaken personal belongings of Holocaust victims are numerous and tell a profoundly emotional story. Upon liberation, hundreds of thousands of pairs of shoes lay in mountains at the various concentration camps. Tens of thousands of shoes are still at Majdanek and the more than 4,000 shoes at the USHMM are on loan from Majdanek. 

Mixed Emotions

The emotions evoked within me on an early morning this summer were conflicting. I slipped on my nitrile gloves and prepared to clean several thousand shoes. You cannot enter this room and not be moved. It is immediately impactful and sorrowful. Emotions well up and threaten to overflow, sadness, horror and anger.

And here I was, using a shop-vac to carefully clean dust off the visible remains of a genocide. We rubber-banded medical gauze to the brush at the end of a vacuum hose and it felt irreverent. Yes, this treatment is necessary in order to preserve these artifacts. Yes, someone has to come in a couple of times a year to remove the dust that accumulates.

And yes, I was glad to be the someone to do so. Amidst the sorrow and irreverence I felt a simultaneous  excitement that seemed somewhat wrong and disrespectful. For I was also a museum studies student, working to help conserve one of the most provocative museum exhibits that I have visited. Working hands-on with such an important exhibit is rewarding, and I felt this alongside my other emotions.

I Cleaned the Shoes
My internship included a wide variety of memorable experiences and learning opportunities. Cleaning the shoes of the Majdanek victims will long remain with me as one of the most poignant moments this summer.

I cleaned the shoes that bear witness to the millions of people who entered the gates at concentration camps and never came back. I cleaned the shoes that speak to millions of visitors, telling them to never forget. I cleaned the shoes that urge us to take responsibility and speak out against hatred, lest we find ourselves with new piles of shoes of new victims.

I cleaned the shoes.

And in doing so I was moved profoundly, both as an individual and as an aspiring museum professional.

"I saw a mountain
Higher than Mount Blanc
And more Holy than the Mountain of Sinai.
Not in a dream. It was real.
On this world this mountain stood.
Such a mountain I saw - of Jewish shoes in Majdanek."
~ Moses Schulstein

A Summer In Washington

A Summer in Our Nation's Capital
I began this post a couple of weeks into June. I have since begun several other posts that have, like this one, never gone live. I had incredibly good intentions to blog every couple of weeks. While this obviously has not happened, it's the thought that counts. Right?

Okay, so maybe imagined blog posts don't really count for much.

This post will just have to count for what would have been a summer of very fascinating posts that you will now just have to imagine, as I did.

The summer is now almost over. I have only one day left in my summer internship, which it feels like I just begun. Needless to say, the summer has flown by. I have been blessed to live with some of my favourite people in the world - Stacie and Nat McConnell. As I took on an unpaid internship, I was so thankful to have such wonderful friends to open their home to me.


When I began applying for internships way back in January, I never expected that I would be spending the summer at an internationally-acclaimed museum in our nation's capital.



United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Nevertheless, for one more day I am a government employee as an intern in the collections branch at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Since June 1, I have assisted with a variety of collection-related tasks.

My duty station is in Maryland, at the museum's offsite collections storage facility. Over 97% of the museum's collections are in the offsite facility, whose security and secrecy rivals the FBI (though, if an FBI agent comes to talk about art crime, he will also inform you of all of the ways a criminal could blow up the building). The other three percent are in downtown Washington, mostly on display in the permanent exhibit.


My main project for the summer involved looking at collection's incoming files. When we receive a collection, we begin a file that includes a custody receipt for the objects, any emails about the collection, movement notes, etc. This file eventually becomes a permanent accession file, which will house any information regarding the accessioning of the collection. Accessioning is the legal transfer of ownership of an object from a donor to a museum.


The Ever-Important Deed of Gift
We have a large number of collections that have not been accessioned, and my job was to look through the accession files and the database to find out why. I then added an entry for each collection to a spreadsheet and assigned it to a museum staff person to remedy the issue.

95% of these collections are lacking proper documentation. While some collections need purchase receipts or copies of a donor's will, the majority need a deed of gift. This is a legal document that enumerates the extent of the collection and transfers ownership of it to the museum. Without this signed document, the museum cannot accession a collection. As some of these collections have been at the museum since the early nineties, getting signatures from all of these donors will not be a fun task.


Intern Miscellanea
My supervisor is Heather Kajic, the Chief of Collections Management, and she is wonderful supervisor. Heather has ensured that I will leave my internship with a wealth of knowledge about the good and bad of collections management. Therefore, a couple of days each week were spent doing a variety of tasks unrelated to my project. I dusted. I condition reported. I made boxes. I accessioned. I went on field trips. I rehoused archival material. I pulled requested objects. I updated the database. I cut sticky notes. I vacuumed carts. I vacuumed objects. I lifted heavy boxes.

I learned.

Most importantly, I am ending my internship having gained a wealth of knowledge and experience. And ultimately, isn't that what an internship is all about?

Was it perfect? Of course not. I certainly wish all internships were paid. And I now have an insider's knowledge of the issues that this institution faces. But what I gained from this summer is invaluable. I have a better understanding of my profession and I am better equipped to enter my field when I graduate in a year.

This has been a summer well-spent.

My Big Radio Debut

In March of 2011 my dad and I appeared on a radio show in Abilene. I was taking a creative nonfiction writing class at the time, and today's post comes from one of my assignments.

I am sitting in my chair, back ramrod straight, staring at the microphone in front of me. I can hear soft music as it drifts quietly through the headphones that rest on the table in front of me. I am nervous and I have to stave off the nausea that I feel welling up in my stomach. My mouth is dry, so I take long gulps from the water bottle that I have placed conveniently by my hand. The man in front of me signals that we have one minute until we’re on the air. Public speaking is one of my greatest fears, and I’m not sure I’m comfortable talking live on the radio. In fact, I’m sure that I am not. My eyes dart to the door. I wonder if I could escape before the show starts.

“And we are live in three, two, one.”

Too late. The microphone in front of me is now connected to the airwaves and anything I say will be broadcast to the listeners of KWKC. I guzzle more water, hoping to drown my nerves. The guy next to me introduces my dad and then introduces me. This is actually kind of cool. I’ve never been introduced like this before.

I relax infinitesimally as the first question is directed to Dad. And then the second.

But now I hear the interviewer say, “This next question is for you, Rebekah. How did the military interact with the citizens of Cairo? Did they treat them okay?”

I am momentarily frozen. But now I remember that Mom is probably the only one listening to this broadcast.

“Yes.” I reply. “As far as I could tell, the military and the people were getting along.  I didn’t see much direct interaction. But the military were everywhere. I think they are stationed everywhere to remind the people that they are in control.”

Okay, that was easy enough. I can do this. Dad answers a few more questions and I sit back through the commercial break. My nervousness is slowly seeping out from me. It’s a nice feeling, a relieving one. My whole body feels lighter and my head clearer. I think I just might make it through the rest of this hour. My water is almost gone, but already my mouth feels less cottony.

We are live again and the interviewer asks about the archeological museum and if we visited.

“It was great!” I reply. The museum had only been reopened for a week before we visited and we had to walk down a line of tanks to get to the museum, but we felt very safe. There still weren’t many people in the museum, certainly not many westerners. We had been told that the museum would be crowded, that the room that houses King Tut’s funerary mask would be packed. Everyone would be crowded into the little room and we would see the mask for a few seconds. Instead, there room was almost empty and we just stood in front the mask and gazed at the boy-king’s face.”

Everyone wanted their kids to take pictures with me. And the tanks.

I take a breath and look over to Dad. He smiles at me, letting me known that I did fine. Maybe it’s sad that I still look to my Daddy for reassurance. It’s almost certainly a little juvenile. But maybe that’s okay.

The remainder of the show passes quickly and soon enough I sign off the air. That wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. 

I Would do Anything for Love

Everything is Better with Bacon 
I made meatloaf on Monday. Pioneer Woman's meatloaf to be precise. Yumm. I'm a fan of meatloaf, and this had bacon wrapped around the beef. Bacon totally makes a dish more healthy. I think I heard that somewhere. Or maybe not, but bacon most definitely makes everything more delicious and this was tasty meatloaf.

I read that the recipe serves eight and I thought about halving it. I wanted to make sure I had leftovers for the week and thought I'd better make the whole recipe, just in case. 10 slices of leftover meatloaf later I realized that I should have just halved the recipe. Looks like I've got dinner for two weeks. And thank goodness for freezers.

In her recipe introduction, Pioneer Woman wonders why meatloaf gets such a bad rap. It's ground beef mixed with seasoning, eggs, milk, bread and cheese. And in this case wrapped in bacon. Seriously, what's bad about that?

PW thinks it might be the word loaf. Or the words meat and loaf together. Or perhaps memories of disheveled seventies rock singers. I think it has something to do with school cafeterias. Bland and made of who-knows-what, cafeteria meatloaf is not the same and is not nearly as delicious. It's an unappetizing grey colour and I'll admit, the greasy cheese pizza always looked much better. If this is your view of meatloaf, you should make meatloaf with good beef and bacon. I can almost guarantee that you'll be a meatloaf-lover convert.

Warwick Castle
Speaking of meatloaf, I have a lot of fond memories from Warwick Castle in England. This English castle was originally built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century. Portions of the current stone structure date back to the 13th century.

What does a 13th century castle have to do with meatloaf, you ask? Well, not much I suppose. But I'm talking about Meatloaf the disheveled seventies rock singer, not meatloaf the meat that is made infinitely better by bacon. I hope that clears things up.

I once had a serious asthma attack at Warwick. Change in my environment often triggers my asthma, and trips to England tend to include some difficulty breathing. As it turns out, visits to historic sites are considerably less enjoyable when you spend the day collapsed on bench and wheezing. You should just take my word for it.

Other visits to the castle have been much more pleasant. Warwick is owned by the Tussauds Group and is now under the Merlin Entertainments (according to trusty Wikipedia, this is the second largest leisure group behind Disney). In other words, the castle is home to flashy entertainers, the world's largest working siege machine (a massive trebuchet), and elaborate wax figures preparing for a royal weekend party. When I was young, I did not understand that the wax figures inside the castle were not real. I desperately wanted to stay and watch a wax woman fill up wax basin with wax water.

Medieval Torture 
In 2006 my family visited Warwick yet again. The wax figures hadn't made much progress and that wax basin was still unfilled. We enjoyed a full day of touring the castle and the beautiful grounds. We cheered for jousting knights and saw plenty of trebuchet action. I also sat in the stocks and practiced my medieval torture skills on my best friend who suffered on the rack. Oh how I love good, wholesome fun.

The Warwick experience is a bit flashy and focuses heavily on entertainment and money. However, I think it is a lovely place that successfully interprets the castle's history. Because it is incredibly theatrical, it makes for a grand time. [Insert here a lengthy and heated discussion about the monetizing of historical sites and the principles of historical site interpretation]

An Unexpected Performance 
Our historical journey through the castle ended on an interesting note. As we were leaving we heard musical chords coming from beyond the castle walls.

I would do anything for love...
I would do anything for love...
But I won't do that

Yep, Meatloaf was rehearsing for his evening performance at Warwick Castle. Meatloaf's riffs blaring across loudspeakers isn't exactly what you expect to hear from the stones of a medieval castle. Nevertheless, on that day a disheveled seventies singer provided the soundtrack for our medieval experience.

And that is why meatloaf always makes me think of Warwick Castle.

Merneptah Stele

Last Monday I sat at the Toyota dealership with my styrofoam cup of coffee and waited as the oil in my car was changed and my state inspection sticker renewed.

Egyptian Revolution
I'm sure I looked a little out of place reading Lost Treasures of the Bible: Understanding the Bible through Archaeological Artifacts in World Museums. My dad got this book for me last Christmas, and I've enjoyed reading and rereading it. This week I was refreshing my memory on the
Merneptah Stele. This Egyptian stone tablet was created around 1200 BC and is now in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo.


Dad and I visited the Egyptian Museum when were in Egypt of 2011. We traveled to Egypt just days after President Mubarak stepped down, when the US State Department still advised Americans to avoid travel to Egypt. As tourists we largely had the country to ourselves and other white westerners were few and far between. The road to the museum was lined with tanks and you can see me walking alongside our guide Shaza to get to the museum.


The Boy King
One of the Egyptian Museum's most famous, or perhaps infamous, exhibits is the treasure of King Tutankhamun's tomb. We had read up on the Egyptian Museum before our visit and had heard of the crowds that surround King Tut's treasures. Tour guides must wait outside the room that houses Tut's ornamented funeral mask and sarcophagus in order to slightly reduce the number of people crowding the room. I read several accounts of visitors who were herded through the congested room with only a quick look at Tut's famous gold burial mask. But not us. A guard and three visitors milled about the room with us as we stood face-to-face with Tut's mask and gazed for minutes upon end into the ageless face of the boy king.

Evidence of Israel
After viewing the King Tut collection, Dad and I set off in search of the Merneptah Stele. It is in an out of the way corner in the museum, hard to find and unlabeled. This is likely because it is, to many, just another stone tablet, interesting only in that it is covered in hieroglyphics.

To historians and biblical scholars, however, this stele is significant because it contains the earliest known mention of Israel. Additionally, it is by far the earliest reference to Israel outside of the Bible. The hieroglyph in front of the word Israel is indicative of Israel as a people group rather than a nation, which is consistent with the biblical record.

Please Do Not Touch!
The section of tablet that reads "Israel" is worn black from many hands that have streaked fondly across the surface. This darkening of the stone is evident at the bottom center of the tablet. Clearly I am not the only one fascinated by by this tablet. And if you ask me if I took the opportunity to lightly brush my curled finger across this piece of history, I will adamantly tell you no... And as an aspiring museum professional, I feel I should take this opportunity to point out the damage done to objects by inquisitive hands.

The Merneptah Stele is appreciated both by historians and by the millions of Christians and Jews whose spiritual beliefs are connected intimately with the people of Israel. Because of its incredible biblical significance, this is one of my favorite museum objects that I've seen. Though seeing Tutankhamun's burial mask was yet another amazing experience. And the mummified body of Ramesses II. And... okay, this list could just go on and on. Suffice it to say, with my love for Egyptian history, this museum was amazing and the less than three hours we spent inside was far too short.