今天最後一天的 training, 下午因為比較早結束, 我就想說選一間在 Houston Museum Districts (顧名思義就是很多家博物館聚集的地方) 的博物館去晃晃. 這個地方大大小小的 museum 加起來大概有16 間, 其中包含了Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston Museum of Natural Science, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 及 Houston Center for Photography 等許多不同特色的博物館.
這麼多的博物館中要選一家去也是另我很頭痛. 因為每個看起來都很有趣很吸引人. 最後選擇了 Holocaust Museum Houston [官網] 因為之前好像都沒看過有類似主題的博物館 (加上它免費). 其他像是 Contemporary Arts Museum, Museum of Natural Science 跟 Museum of Fine Arts 在其他地區 (Chicago, Ann Arbor, Detroit) 都有看過了. 而我自己也對歷史很有興趣, 畢竟羅馬不是一天造成的, 現在這世界/社會是我們所看到的樣子, 都是受到過去所發生的事情的影響. 而歷史上所發生的許多事情往往值得我們省思.
這個博物館基本上小的可愛, 但裡面所呈現的資料卻多到我沒辦法在僅有的兩小時內完全看完. 我想第二次世界大戰應該世人類在近代史上最恐怖的一段時期. 在西方及東方同時都發生了令人髮指的大屠殺事件. 很難想像在距離今天短短的七十年前竟然發生了這麼恐怖的事件. 更令人感到心寒的是, 類似的事情可能正在世界的某個角落上演 (i.e. Hotel Rwanda), 只是我們不知道而已.
我想七十年前的猶太人可能也沒有想到說這樣的事情有一天會發生在他們身上. 被迫害, 剝奪權利, 最後被送到集中營屠殺. 在一夕之間變成一無所有, 甚至連身為人類的一點尊嚴都被剝奪 (細節因為太殘忍, 有興趣的請自己去查資料).
大家在歷史課本上應該有看過有關 holocaust 的一些文獻, 所以在此就不多談細節. 但有幾點是我今天看到覺得很震撼的事件.
德國在第二次世界大戰的時候可以說是歐洲最先進的國家之一. 所擁有的科學家及在科學實驗上得發展也可以說是世界數一數二的. 但在這麼多的高知識份子存在的同時, 竟然可以允許種族屠殺這樣不人道的事情成為整個國家的政策. 而許多公司 (包含 BMW, Siemens, Diamler-Benz 等) 在當時卻使用那些被德軍抓去集中營的猶太人來當作廉價勞工.
還有就是在當時有許多德國科學家/醫生也利用這些被抓的猶太人來做非常殘忍及不人道的人體實驗. 而有許多的結果竟然也在許多全世界的會議上被發表. 真是沒有辦法理解竟然有人為了自己的利益而對其他人類進行殘忍的實驗..><
我個人非常的俗辣, 沒有辦法利用 "有生命的" 東西來做實驗. 這也是我為甚麼逃離生物圈跑到電腦界來的原因之一. 沒有辦法對活生生的老鼠或其他動物下手, 只能亂操電腦這種沒有心跳的東東 ^_^.
Holocaust i defiinitely a very heavy subject that every normal person should feel upset about.
Regarding life-body experiments, there are actually ppl saying stuff like this:
“You cannnot make an omlet without breaking a few eggs.”
While we don’t (and shouldn’t) agree whith their actions, I find this line somewhat interesting to think about.
yea I think you’ve made your point. I thought about this too. Without some sacrifice, us human beings probably won’t get to the current point of where we are now (science/technology/industry/etc).
「天下沒有白吃的午餐」: whenever we’re enjoying anything, there is someone worked/sacrificed behind it.
i went to a Holocaust museum during my 8th grade graduation trip to DC….. it was horrifying to even just look at the exhibitions….. couldn’t imagine the magnitude of the actual horror that those innocent people had to experience…
on a side note, just to show how horrifying it was (at least to me): during that whole graduation trip, it was on that day that i had to surrender some dollars to the teacher who was heading our trip…. coz we were told to walk in two’s or else we would get fined….. and so i got fined coz i couldn’t bear to walk slowly and take everything in…. there were even audio exhibitions that rang in my ears…. i felt so uncomfortable that i had to tell my partner that i would walk ahead to the exit and wait for her there…… and then i got fined…..
not that i mind the few dollars… but it was kinda like 雪上加霜…. as if i weren’t in a pitiful state already.. as if i had wanted to 脫隊 for my own benefit.. whateva
the point is… the Holocaust… is indeed a sad, sad, sad page in history… and it was real too….. which made it sadder..