European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                R-1 try changing places. You might think differently Loa Angam time can t rankle people a the moment they feel off put or ill at ease then you be absolutely ruined the possibility of making it a learning experience. But if you re Overly cautious you re too  so from the outset the museum s primary goal was to engage the visitor using Surprise and even humor to promote discussion of themes Many people work hard to avoid. Aware that the attention of museum goers tends to wander and that abstract subjects such As ethics and morality make them wander All the More the designers strive to create constant change. Every detail a the color of the carpeting the texture of the Walls the height of the ceilings and the Maze like non linear layout a was intended to  we tried to manipulate the palette. Every dimension was considered Quot said Martin Pyant design director at the James Cardner studio in London where plans for much of the museum came to life. By reaching for the unexpected Quot hopefully vye be caught the cynics and the people whose interest May have  that desire to cast a wider net to reach people who Are not particularly interested in the holocaust and its legacy is one of the museum s Central missions. Created primarily for younger audiences who Are More Likely to View the nazis Campaign to exterminate jews As an aberration from a Distant Era the 28,000-Square-foot installation seeks to show the connections Between modern Day bigotry and the horrors of half a Century ago. The museum s first Section the brightly lighted cacophonous tolerance workshop explores the phenomenon of prejudice through interactive exhibits with names such As Quot me. A bigot Quot following that a walk through the history of the holocaust a Down a prewar Berlin Street and eventually through the Gates of a nazi death Camp a displays the same phenomenon taken to its worst extreme. Quot we did t want to present the holocaust unaccompanied by other lessons Quot said rabbi Marvin Hier Dean of the Wiesenthal Center and the driving Force behind the museum. Quot this museum says you May not be jewish and you May not be a nazi but you have a stake in this because hatred was not banished with Adolf Hitler a it outlived  at the other America exhibit a Large map charts the locations state by state of America s 250 hate groups. By touching a computer screen visitors can learn about each group in detail a its beliefs its history How fast it is. Growing. Down the Hail a multimedia film on the civil rights movement splices the words of the Martin Luther King or. With images of what he struggled against. Next comes the history of the holocaust where visitors Are asked to witness one of the most horrific examples of Man s inhumanity . Unlike the tolerance Section visitors above walk through a replica of a ravaged world War ii site a which Tike others at the museum uses a sign to highlight a theme of the conflict. Each visitor receives a Quot photo passport Quot far left of a child who was trapped by the evil of the nazi concentration Camps. A Young Hoy left looks into a viewer where he can see his face superimposed on the bodies of people of different races professions and situations. Now Yortis Timet where visitors Are free to wander from exhibit to exhibit this is a forced tour that takes people Back in time a to 1920s Germany a then walks them Forward at a preset Pace. At the beginning each visitor receives a photo passport of a child who was caught up in the holocaust. Midway through the tour visitors insert the passports into a computer to learn More about the child. Not until the end is the child s Fate revealed. In this museum within a museum format visitors Are reminded that history is interpretive. Once again they Are encouraged to think for themselves. The museum saves the most powerful Section for last a walk into the Warsaw ghetto and through the barbed Gates of a concentration Camp. Again visitors Are asked to pick a door a either Quot Able bodied Quot or Quot children and  but no matter which they choose All end up in the same Bunke like room. Eight television monitors Are mounted on the Stark Gray Walls where visitors can see and hear the stories of holocaust survivors. In the brochures this room is called the Hall of testimony. But Many people will be reminded of a Gas chamber. At the exit a sign on the Wall asks Quot who was responsible Quot a rotating series of photos identifies the guilty henchmen racists Blind followers world leaders a and Ordinary people. March 4, 1993 stripes Magazine 7