Once you find the entrance to the underground information center however, you really understand how incredible this entire construction is. It not only provides historical context. It provides rooms that invite the visitor into the experiences of victims and seeks to humanize a historical event that most of us associate with huge, impersonal numbers. While the fact that it seeks to evoke an emotional response might bother some museum purists, this is not a museum. The "exhibit" halls -- if one can call them that -- are places of reflection and contemplation.The Juedisches Museum Berlin, however, makes every effort to actively engage the visitor. I was overwhelmed by the richness of the permanent exhibition and had to break off my visit due to "museum fatigue". Even then, as I walked swiftly through the second half of the exhibit, I stopped two or three times because some artifact caught my eye/ear. For example, there was a clip from a brief television interview with Hanna Arendt. I sat down in front of the monitor, listened, and gaped.
This is another museum that seeks to inspire wonder and empathy. Does that limit its authority as an educational site? Does it fail the "objectivity" test? If the other extreme is the Panzer Museum at Munster, I'll take the Jewish Museum any time.
