Guestbook & Reflections

My experience at the Holocaust Memorial was definitely one to remember. The memorial is absolutely beautiful and makes the overall experience of discussing the Holocaust, much easier. Francine did a fabulous job and the video prior to the tour was very informative and kept me intrigued. Thank you for the amazing experience.

Yesterday's visit was extremely meaningful to me. The pictures that were displayed were ones I have never seen before. They provided a unique insight into what daily life was like for Jews during the Holocaust. Also, seeing all the names that were engraved really put things into perspective. It was an extremely emotional visit for me. I am glad there is a Holocaust Memorial in Miami so we can never forget.

Thank you for the amazing tour and brand new video detailing the Holocaust. I learned valuable new information, and our tour guide, Francine, was very knowledgeable and informative. Thank you again!

From a student at NSU University School.

Why do we do Memorials such as the Great Jewish Wall in Jerusalem, And this great memorial? Why do we celebrate Purim? So as to never forget. I am not Jewish I am Spanish my descendants expelled the Jewish people from Spain. Time and again we have had people throughout history try and destroy Israel and the Jewish people. Romans, Philistines, Persians, Spanish, Russians, Nazis. All have tried to destroy the Jewish people. And now I must tell you of the greatest threat ever in the history to Jewish existence. The ungodly alliance between Barack Hussein Obama and Iran. Iran has said their main purpose in life is the destruction of Israel. But Obama has supported a treaty that all but insures that Iran gets a Nuclear Bomb. With this bomb Iran can now make good on its threat of the destruction of Israel. Strangely enough the only people that can stop Barack Hussein Obama are the very same ones his treaty will destroy, the Jewish people in the USA. Without their tacit support Obama looses the only allied he has remaining politically and financially, th e Jewish Liberal establishment. You must oppose this crooked deal and stop it and destroy it. God be with you. And please forgive my ancestors from Spain they where ignorant and not much better than Barack Hussein Obama and the Mullahs in Iran.

May God continue to bless you and all of his students.

What started as an assignment for a college aesthetics paper turned into a passion for the Jewish people's story. I went there expecting to stop by for a moment to collect some thoughts, but I ended up meeting Allen Hall (a survivor) and getting a detailed tour. By the time I reached the lily pond again, I was in complete tears. I honestly don't even know what I can do, but I would love to participate in any possible way. Thank you for making the experience more then I could have asked for; it was life changing. For anyone reading this, I encourage you to get involved as well. Although the memorial's tail is a sad one, I believe if more people reflect on the past our future would be brighter.

I took my 10th grade students to the memorial this week to wrap up our Holocaust unit. We had an incredible time. We were lucky to have met a survivor. Mr. Paul, our speaker, was so jovial that the students, and myself, were amazed by his positivity and contagious smile. He was very sweet and the students loved talking to him. His message was clear and well received. I'm honored to have had the opportunity to meet him and to be able to share that opportunity with my students.

[I was touched by the architecture and the sculptures at the Holocaust Memorial and this is my tribute to the millions of victims and to the site]

Here no matter what its cause, politics, religion etc. what the architect Kenneth Treister was able to transmit was the pain of barbarism, expressed intensely through the memorial and its works of art. My daughter, nine-year-old, who has down syndrome, consoled each image for a long time touched them, as if there represented reducing the pain. At the end, with tears in her eyes, asked me, why? Intense.

It has been my privilege for the last six years to serve as lead sponsor of a field trip to the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial for almost every ninth grader in our diverse high school - we are close to 2300 students a year, or about 600 ninth graders. The staff at the Memorial and the volunteer docents have been exceptionally welcoming to between 40 and 60 of our students at a time, and have provided us with edifying and emotionally-charged tours of the memorial walls and sculptures. Hearing the testimony of Holocaust survivors, however, who year after year share their harrowing stories of survival during the atrocious years 1933 to 1945 and beyond, has left a lasting impact on each of the several thousand young men and women from our high school who have now come of age with the certainty of devastating effects prejudice. It is to the Holocaust survivors that we've heard from at the Memorial that we owe our deepest gratitude for having had the courage and resolve to re-tell their stories again and again in the hopes that we today and our kids tomorrow may never see what it is that they have seen. It is to the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust, genocides that have occurred before and since the Holocaust, and anyone who has felt the pain of being marginalized as a member of an out-group, that we owe our deepest respect, and from whom we can derive the courage to speak and act out when we perceive human rights abuses in our backyard and in the broader global community.

Dascha chernukha mr.reese p.3

I have been fortunate to visit the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial I learned so much I have never knew. I had the honor of hearing a Holocaust survivor speak of his life and his experience in the Holocaust. Though Holocaust survivors tell their stories daily, most of the voices will never be heard due to the unimaginable suffering, torturing, and killing handed out by the Nazis.It was a powerful and moving experience going to a holocaust memorial ,I think everyone from all cultures would benefit from the museum, My experience at the memorial was amazed that someone could execute such a catastrophic event.

Nathan Chiche Holocaust memorial Mr. Reese Blog English honors 1-period 7 24 January 2015

My class mates and I visted the holocaust memorial on January 12,2015.In my experience the holocaust memorial felt like a very lonely and sad place when I went around the memorial. There had been so many different meanings to different things for example, there was a hand reaching towards the sky with people on it trying to climb to the top, there was also around that hand the names of the people who perished around that hand written in stone during the holocaust. In my opinion I had thought that this memorial was very sad and very educational. The memorial for other people who visited could accomplish many things. It could accomplish how the holocaust is a day to never forget and to always remember, It can accomplish the fear and sadness felt during the holocaust, and it could also show that many people had died during this time. One last thing about the memorial that was really cool was how there was a a man who experience the holocaust and told us his story of how he survived it.

On January 12, 2015 my English class and I went to go visit the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach. When we first arrived at the site, we were met by this tour guide who talked about the statue at the beginning of the tour. It was a statue of a mother and her two children holding on to her in fear of what might happen. Behind the statue was a quote that Anne Frank wrote in her diary during the time of this tragic event. The quote read, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart." After viewing the statue, the tour guide led us to a wall filled with pictures and captions of people and children. Some were lying dead on the floor in piles, while others were standing in line, and then some showed the faces of scared children. While analyzing these photos, I couldn't even imagine how horrible it must of been like for those people and what kind of person would do such a thing to others. As we walked down the path, we entered inside a dome. We stayed under there still for a while, and I heard the voices of children singing in a haunting and sleeping way. It was very sentimental, and as we walked down the narrow path that had the names of the concentration camps on the walls, we finally arrived to the inside where the huge hand was located. The first thing I saw was a little girl sitting on the floor reaching her hand out for help and I just felt so sorry for her because I could really see the fear in her eyes. Then we started walking around to see other statues of different people. Some of them were on the ground standing up, or lying on the floor dead, while most of the statues were up on the hand. I think that seeing the faces of these people really got to me emotionally, it was such a heartbreaking thing for me to look at. The thing that stood out the most was probably the hand; it symbolized the Jews reaching out for hope. I thought it was such a nice thing to see the walls surrounding the statues filled with the names of families that died. It gives so much respect for these people and for others to remember and take a moment of silence for the families that passed away. Finally reaching the end of the tour, we see the same statue of the mother holding her two children at the beginning of the tour, except to find all 3 dead and lying on the floor. This time though, Anne Frank's quote is different and it says, "Ideals, dreams, and cherished hopes rise within us only to meet the horrible truths and be shattered." The tour also included meeting a holocaust survivor named Allen Hall, as he told us his breathtaking true story of his experience and how he almost died. The scenery of the memorial is so peaceful and honors the ones who have fallen, and the tour was truly amazing.

The Holocaust Memorial was such an amazing and wonderful place to visit with my school Miami Beach Senior High. While touring the memorial I loved how all the information was given and how almost everything had a meaning. For example, it was explained to me that the trees had a meaning. I was told that the trees had a lot of white flowers because it symbolized the people that died, but then there was a small amount of red flowers basically showing that not many people survived. During the exploring of the Holocaust i was touched by the soft music, the amazing statues and my favorite part was when i got to listen to the Holocaust survivor. It felt as if i was actually there with him witnessing every time he was so close to being killed but ended up being saved once again. i was inspired by this all because the Holocaust survivor Mr. Halls still had the courage to tell all of us about his experience, The Holocaust Memorial was such an uplifting place and I am grateful that i had the chance to experience it.

On January 12, 2015, Mr. Reese’s English Honors 1 Class of Miami Beach Senior High school (myself included) visited this Holocaust Memorial located in Miami Beach. The experience was breathtaking: symbolism surrounded the entire memorial, starting from the kind of flowers planted. The plant was filled with thousands of white flowers, representing the ones that died in the Holocaust. Then, pink flowers would rarely appear in the plant, representing the survivors. This memorial honors the victims of this catastrophic genocide beautifully by carving in their names on the many black walls that surround the memorial. Plaques contain history of the Holocaust accompanied by pictures of the event to provide the visitor with some more knowledge.

This monument should provide the visitors from all parts of the globe a time of reflection, to think about the massive genocide that took place in Europe. This monument also provides the guest with music, gardening and architecture to transform the setting of Miami Beach into Europe, 1940. This memorial accomplishes an educational environment for the guests, a peaceful place to reflect on this horrendous genocide as well as a small peak into the past.

On January 12, 2015, my 9th grade English 1 honors teacher Mr. Reese has given myself and my fellow class the opportunity to visit Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, Florida. As we got there we saw this huge green hand reaching for the sky, symbolizing for me Hope. Then we were introduce to an little elderly man who was our "tour guide" . Out of the whole field trip, what had effectived me the most was the first Sculpture with a women and her two children, the mother is holding her children tightly and behind her there is a quote that says "...In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart..." By Anna Frank . Its amazing even though there is this huge massacre happening but still this little 12 year old girl hiding for her life still sees light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the tour you see the final sculpture with the same mother and two children now dead on the floor and written behind them Anna Frank words hauntingly behind “Ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us only to meet the horrible truths and be shattered.” Everyone truly need come and witness this amazing place for themselves.

The day that my class went to the field trip was January 12,2015. it was a wonderful experience because i got to learn new things i didn't know before. We took a tour and heard about the things that happened and how many Jewish people they wanted to eliminate and its sad because a lot of people died and went through horrible things just to stay alive not even live.Then the tour took us the hand and we saw the statues and they were really hard to forget especially because the sculpture put such detail into every one of the statues faces. Finally we got to hear from a survivor, he was telling us what he went through and how many times him and his family almost died. I really like the field trip here it got to open my eyes to the horrors of that day but it was also very calming because its dedicated the people that lost their lives fighting every day.

Deniz Karakurt Holocaust Reflection Mr.Reese English I Honors / P.5 1/25/15

On January 12, 2015 my 5th period class went to the holocaust memorial as a field trip. When we arrived at the holocaust memorial what that stood out the most is the colossal hand reaching out into the sky and the stone used for the floor. The first activity we did was take a guide along the plaques showing real pictures of moments and events that happened, the plaques were very descriptive and meaningful and had explanations under it. Along the way, the trail also had meaningful statues and quotes from Anne Frank matching the statue. In the middle of the trail was the entrance to the hand, the walk to the hand was so peaceful from the music, to the torch, to the sun coming in through the cuts in the walls. Upon entrance you immediately notice the little girl crying, it was saddening, and the rest of the statues represented family trying to help each other up the hand. Once the guide was done, they brought us to a room where we heard Allen Hall tell his story, a survivor from the holocaust. All in all the experience was breathtaking.

On January 12,2015 I visited The Holocaust memorial with my school. My experience at the memorial was amazed that someone could execute such a catastrophic event. However the whole memorial is amazing especially how everything has a meaning like the trees and how they have a lot of white flowers (people that died) but then there are small bunches of red flowers showing that some did survive. I’ve been going to this holocaust memorial for as long as I remember, and each time I go I feel proud that we have such a big memorial for the people that died in this pogrom. Its great that we have such a big and visible memorial in Miami beach because Miami is known to have a lot tourist and when they see a big green hand reaching for the sky they wonder what it means, so they stop go in and by doing that they have the chance to learn about The Holocaust.

This experience going to the holocaust and being there and hearing stories of what happened i think is so eye opening and i start to think how grateful i should be for the life i have and also that i didn't live in that time period. people that go to the monument and experience this crazy time and get them to think and never take anything for granted and surround yourself with people that you love. i really enjoyed this trip to the holocaust and the story this man was telling had my jaw dropped of how lucky he was to be able to survive the holocaust, and still be alive ti'll this day.