BES-Assignment 7 (Imperial War Museum)

What is it with London? Every time I got to a museum it seems like it's even bigger than the last one. The Imperial War Museum, situated in Lambeth North, with it's beautiful grounds and grand displays is not easy to miss. There was so much to see inside, I could have spent a week there. I spent time on each floor, making sure to see The Trench Experience, The Blitz Experience, and the Holocaust exhibition. Aside from 500 screaming kids running around, the atmosphere was somber and respectful. The museum showed just how big of an impact WWI and WWII had on England and Europe as a whole. America has never seen war on such a scale on our home soil, so a lot of the exhibits shocked me. Overall, this museum gave me a greater insight into how conflict has impacted England and shaped the way it is today.

Inside The Trench Experience

Both the trench and blitz experiences were not what I expected. The Trench Experience did a good job depicted the environment of a WWI soldier, smells and everything. I was afraid they were going to let a rat loose or something. I walked through that one pretty fast, just because of how terrible it smelled. After waiting in line for The Blitz Experience I went in, not knowing what to expect. I sat on a bench in the dark with a bunch of random people as it simulated a bomb shelter during an attack...I almost had a heart attack when the bench moved at the end. The rest of it was pretty lame, I couldn't really understand what the voices were saying either. I enjoyed a lot of displays on the lower ground floor, in particular the Conflicts Since 1945, which  talked about even after WWII there has been conflict in every part of the world. It included displays from conflicts in the Middle East and Africa.

Uniforms worn by those in concentration camps

I spent most of my time in The Holocaust Exhibition; watching clips, looking at clothing displays, real phone interviews, dioramas of concentration camps, and reading testimonies from survivors. There were real concentration camp uniforms, stars of David, and even Torah scrolls partially destroyed in kristallnacht. I have never seen anything from the Holocaust until this exhibition. In America, we have books and some film where we learn about the Holocaust, but not anything like what's here. There was a particular point in the exhibition that had a wall of pictures of people before and after they had all of their hair cut off, both men and women. I stayed and looked at that for a while, very sobering to see actual pictures from people who suffered in the Holocaust.

Antisemitism signs

Nazi-German airplane

A little bit of America

One thing that we were told to look for, or what to notice the lack of, was America. On the first floor they have a first-model Jeep from America, and in the WWI and WWII areas they included explanations of when America intervened. They had a section of posters trying to recruit people that included the infamous, "Uncle Sam wants you!" poster. But aside from that I didn't see anything American in the museum. Overall, this museum allowed me to see a lot of stuff that influenced the history of the world, that I wouldn't get to see in America. It helps me understand the importance of the wars in British history, like why there are monuments to militants all over the place. This is an important part of British history, and this museum is a great key to unlocking insight into this part of its culture.