Jewish Museum - Holocaust Survivors' Encounter

CleaPart of our port program for the post graduate international business students included a visit to the Jewish Museum. Clearly i was delighted about the choice, but more so with the fact that the museum was chosen since it chronicles the tremendous contributions the Jews have made to the growth of South Africa's economy as a whole, and Cape Town, in particular. As we entered the museum, after going through a security door, we all of a sudden heard a huge explosion. Our guide, an elderly docent, turned to us with a puzzled look, while I felt fear gripping me... what was it? Another explosion erupted in what seemed like next door and the docent smiled all of a sudden -- "Ah," he said,"it is only the cannon from the parliament building which is next to us. Must be an important visitor coming in." Above you can see Natalie's picture with him. It was her president, Mr. Sarkozy, who came to Cape Town on the day we arrived...

Our docent went on to tell us all about how his great grandfather came to Cape Town and helped build a thriving Jewish community that went on to give birth to some of the country's leading industrialists as well as fighter of Apartheid (the museum was re-dedicated by Nelson Mandela after he became president). When asked about the future, he told our students about his kids, who grew up with all the privileges of the while society during Apartheid, but are now working hard to re-built South Africa...

Next to the Jewish Museum is the Holocaust Memorial which is dedicated to:

• serServing as a memorial to the 6 million Jews who where killed in the Holocaust and all victims of Natzism and teaches about the consequences of prejudice, racism and discrimination while promoting an understanding of the dangers of indifference, apathy and silence. One of the most illuminating exhibits of the memorial is the comparison of ads and pamphlets showing the inferior profile of a black person that proliferated during Apartheid vs. the ones used by the Nazis. aparently, the creator of the Apartheid regime were students of Nazi propaganda...

One of the touching experiences I had after going through the exhibits was meeting the docent there who asked me the sign the visitors book and realized that both our parents were in Bergen Belsen... her mother, that dies recently, was older than my Dad, but somehow we felt a sense of c\immediate closeness as their offsprings. We hugs with tears in our eyes as we shared with each other tid bits about being the child of a survivor. It was as if we knew so much about each other, even though we were total strangers... I was so sorry when I had to rush to join my group but turned around to wave at her and say "Shalom!" out loud... Then I realized, I did not even ask for her name...