Today In History...Berlin Wall

April 29, 1990…Wrecking cranes began tearing down the Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate.
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On November 10, 2009, I wrote about my connection with the Berlin Wall.  Refer to this link to read about it... http://jocarweaver.blogspot.com/search/label/Berlin%20Wall

Today In History...U.S. Holocaust Museum

April 22, 1993…The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, DC.
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In August of 2000, I had the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. for a child care conference.  I rode to D.C. with a girlfriend of mine, Bonnie Giles and we went a couple of days early so that we would have the chance to do some sight-seeing.  It was the second of many opportunities to visit there - the first being with Mom, Nancy and Aunt Rachel.

One of the places we visited was the Holocaust Museum which is a must see for anyone visiting that city.  You need to set aside several hours to work your way through the museum and view and listen to the many displays.




The "Tower of Faces" is a three-floor-high segment of the permanent exhibition at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum devoted to the Jewish community of the Lithuanian town of Eisiskes, which was massacred by units of the German Einsatzgruppe and their Lithuanian auxiliaries in two days of mass shootings on September 25 and 26, 1941.

The exhibit consists of approximately 1,000 reproductions of prewar photographs of Jewish life.  The photographs in this exhibit document the life of a Jewish community that existed prior to the occupation by the German Army in the last week of June 1941.  On the eve of the Jewish New Year in September 1941, the community was ordered to surrender all its valuables. The following morning all Jews were ordered to assemble in the main synagogue and its two houses of study. Another 1,000 Jews from two neighboring towns and crowded into the three buildings. For the next two days the 4,000-4,500 Jews were held without food or water. On the third day the killing action began with the mass shooting of all the men at the old Jewish cemetery. The next day the women and children were taken out and shot near the Christian cemetery. Only 29 Jews escaped the slaughter.



Display of concentration camp prisoner uniforms.



Detail of the scale model of crematorium II at Auschwitz-Birkenau on display.  This model, which is a recreation of the sculptor's model that has been on display in the State Museum of Auschwitz for many years.



The railcar is one of several types of freight cars used to deport Jews to ghettos and concentration camps.



A collection of valises belonging to Jews who were deported to death camps, that are displayed at the base of the railcar.

 

Detail of the "Murder of the Handicapped" segment, featuring a register and photographs of euthanasia victims.



The shoes, about 3,000, taken from the Jews before being gassed at the killing centers.

I don't know how anyone can leave the museum without being affected by what they've seen.

Magna Carta Day

Today is Magna Carta Day, the anniversary of that June day in the year 1215 when, at Runnymede meadow beside the River Thames in Surrey, English barons presented King John with a written list of rights they demanded that he recognize…and he did.  So what has this got to do with me doing a blog posting?

In 1976, Nancy, Mom, Aunt Rachel and I went to Washington, D.C. to apply for Nancy's wedding license.  One of the places we went and visited was the Capitol Building and there in the Rotunda was being displayed an original copy of the Magna Carta.  I remembered studying about it in English history so it was quite exciting to see the real thing.  It had been loaned by the British government in honor of our Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. 

The copy of the Magna Carta exhibited in the Rotunda in 1976 was one of the two copies from the manuscript collection of Sir Robert Cotton, long preserved in the British Museum and classified as "Cotton Manuscript Augustus II, 106." Who first owned it is unknown. Sir Robert Cotton acquired it in 1629, the gift of a friend, Humphrey Wyems.  The document loaned to the United States is regarded by scholars as the most authoritative copy extant. It was a gesture of extraordinary generosity that Britain loaned a manuscript of such incalculable value so that visitors during the Bicentennial year could see the most enduring symbol of our inherited liberties - liberties common to the free and independent people of both Great Britain and the United States.

Written in Latin, the Magna Carta is quite simply one of the key moments in the history of democracy. Among other things, the charter established habeas corpus meaning that citizens can’t be thrown in jail at the drop of a hat. Much of its content comes from the Charter of Liberties issued by Henry I in 1100.

On This Day in History...

...June 10, 1776…The Continental Congress appointed a committee to write a Declaration of Independence.

I feel very fortunate that I've had the opportunity to see a copy of the original Declaration of Independence.  The first time I saw it was when Nancy, Mom, Aunt Rachel and I went to the National Archives Building located on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C.   It holds the original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  There was no line and you could wander around in the rotunda where these documents are kept.

"It'll be a cold day in hell..."!

In 1976, Mom, Nancy, Aunt Rachel and I headed off for an adventure from Georgia to Washington, D.C. We were going there to get ready for Nancy's wedding which was going to take place in September at the Washington, D.C. Temple. There was paperwork she needed to pick up and other arrangements to be made, so we all took off to our nation's capitol. I took Aunt Rachel along with us because she'd not been too many places and I loved her a lot.

Of course we wanted to see and do as many things as possible and one of the stops we made was at Arlington Cemetery to see the grave of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.

(Aunt Rachel and Mom looking at some of the many headstones in the cemetery)

Then, we wanted to go by the White House and check it out but didn't know how to take a tour. While we were stopped at a red light, we noticed a guy with a sign saying he would give tours of Washington, D.C. for a fee and take you wherever you wanted to go. We all laughed thinking that would be a great idea, but who in their right mind would turn their car over to a complete stranger and trust that all your stuff wouldn't be stolen. But as we circled the block, we got to talking about the possibility and decided we'd be those people who lost their minds and take him up on the offer. We actually went back, found the guy and made him promise to us he was legitimate. Somehow, we took the man at his word. I actually turned the keys of my Mach I Mustang over to this guy, with all our luggage and let him become our guide.

True to his word, he got us tickets to tour the White House, dropped us off, told us where we could meet him after the tour and he did everything he said he would. So, we all have toured the White House and even saw Susan Ford out by the guard shack. We then bid the driver a fond goodbye with a nice payment and tip of $10.00 if I remember correctly.

(Nancy, Mom and Aunt Rachel outside the White House)

For our last stop before heading out of town, we decided to tour the Capitol building. We parked in one of the parking lots and headed up all those steps. Once inside we got to see a display of the Magna Carta which was dated 1215 and had been loaned to the U.S. in celebration of our bicentennial. We even got to go into the Gallery where the Congress conducts its business. You had to be very quiet and no pictures were allowed to be taken.

After we'd done all the sightseeing in the Capitol we wanted to do, it was time to leave the building. When we exited, we discovered we were on the wrong side of the building. Rather than have everyone go back through the building, I suggested that I go get the car and meet them on this side. I told them and showed them where to meet me as it would be impossible to park or to stop for a long period of time because of the traffic.

It was a very warm day and by the time I had climbed back up those steps on that side, go through the entire building, down the steps on other side and then find the car. When I finally got it and went to pick everyone up, they weren't where they needed to be. I had to circle the entire block and come back and then they still weren't there. Finally on another pass, there they were. Needless to say, I was rather "hot under the collar" by this time and it was then that I pointed my finger at both Mom and Aunt Rachel and exclaimed very loudly "It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever take you ole biddies with me again"! No one said a thing, but they did get into the car rather quickly.

I don't remember the rest of the trip, but that quote has stuck with everyone even up to this time.

Star Spangled Banner Day

I received this email today from my good friend Tricia...

Carol,
Did you know that TODAY is STAR SPANGLED BANNER DAY?? Woohoo!
And, since you and I saw THE ORIGINAL flag, being refurbished at the Smithsonian, I just couldn’t resist sending you this commemorative email!
God Bless the Red,
God Bless the Blue
God Bless America
And God Bless You!

Yes, Tricia and I got the opportunity to visit the Smithsonian and see the original American flag on one of our visits to Washington, D.C. when we were project managers for the Air Force Project for child care providers. What a fun day we had spending most of it in the various parts of the Smithsonian. My favorite building though was the American History one. Almost immediately upon entering that great building we were able to stand under the flag that had hung at the Pentagon the day of the 9/11 bombings. It was hanging so low that Tricia and I both stood on our tiptoes just to touch the edge of the flag knowing that we were touching a piece of history.

As we continued our tour, we came upon the section where the original "Star Spangled Banner" was being restored. I had never really realized how large that flag would be and was and it is quite large. Read on...

The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Quick Facts about the Star-Spangled Banner Flag:

- Made in Baltimore, Maryland, in July-August 1813 by flagmaker Mary Pickersgill
- Commissioned by Major George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry
- Original size: 30 feet by 42 feet
- Current size: 30 feet by 34 feet
- Fifteen stars and fifteen stripes (one star has been cut out)
- Raised over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814, to signal American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore; the sight inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”
- Preserved by the Armistead family as a memento of the battle
- First loaned to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907; converted to permanent gift in 1912
- On exhibit at the National Museum of American History since 1964
- Major, multi-year conservation effort launched in 1998

We were able to observe the progress of the restoration, as well as view an exhibition about the history of the 185-year-old flag. Although the flag restoration work was conducted behind glass walls, we had a great view of the restoration taking place.

The restorers worked in a climate-controlled, pressurized lab inside the museum, inspecting, repairing and cleaning every inch of the flag, without touching it. They worked on their stomachs, from a scaffold suspended just six inches over the wool and cotton banner, which is being rolled out, a little at a time.

I remember being so excited about what I was seeing that I called Mom and Dad on my cell phone just to have them share that experience with me.