Cody Mick

Review of USHMM

The museum itself is a collection of stories, phot...

The museum itself is a collection of stories, photos, and some, but few, artifacts. It's an emotional collection that really is worth a visit. It pays great tribute to those who experienced the world's darkest times.

What makes (or made) the museum experience difficult for me was the initial ticketing experience (get your tickets online in advance, it's worth it). The ticket taker is very finicky about using tickets from a cell phone, which is how they're delivered (welcome to the future, grandpa).

The info desk attendant is also a bit abrupt and rude, though I'm sure he has good reason, given how busy the place is.

If you are interested in this museum, I hate to say this - but you will be disappointed - due to the crowds. You'll experience a number of school groups with students who were not told of this museum's service as a memorial and behave poorly (taking pictures of the nude prisoners with their phones and SnapChatting them), filming one another doing ridiculous things, taking selfies in front of Hitler pictures, and so on.

At the start of the museum, you'll find yourself dumped off on the 4th floor standing in steady flow of traffic and you'll struggle to be able to see everything.

It's a stressful experience for those who want to do this museum justice - because it is a good museum - it's just not ran well. In my opinion, the museum should ban photos from the standpoint that it slows traffic and creates crowds. I also believe they need to issue less tickets - and I didn't find it particularly easy to get mine - but the issue is that the crowds are not conducive to a worthy experience. Justice is currently not served to those memorialized by this museum.

You'll go expecting to be emotionally moved, you'll leave - disappointed in an experience that could have been so much better.