Things to Do

US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Visit a life-changing museum and talk to the few Holocaust survivors left in the DC area.

Photograph by Flickr user Brett Swaim

Why you might roll your eyes:

Like many things that are important but sad, it’s a place a lot of people put off visiting.

Why you’ll love it:

The First Person program lets you hear stories from and ask questions of an actual survivor. Later, you tour exhibits on your ownbut may see things you hadn’t before. In a room piled with shoes from thousands who died in the gas chambers, you realize the innocent hopes they had. “They packed everything, even pots and pans,” a survivor says. “They thought they were moving to a better place.”

100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl., SW; 202-488-0400.

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