King College > Travel Opportunities > Experience D.C.

The Red Sandal

Washington is one of those cities where it does not matter how many times one goes, one can never see it all. I have been to D.C. on three prior occasions, and each time it continues to get better. This time was no different. Washington is a city of diversity and intrigue. I encountered many wonderful things on this trip, but one red sandal will always be significant to me.

Our group had just finished touring the largest homeless shelter in the world, and we were on our way to the Holocaust Museum. This was the second time I had visited the museum and was looking forward to seeing things that I might have missed. Once through security, each student received an identification card that had the true story of a person who had lived during the Holocaust. We then proceeded to the elevators, where we watched an introductory video. After the video, the doors opened and we were suddenly thrust into a room of total silence and remembrance.

The fourth floor took us through the events that led to the rise and power of the Nazi Party. All over the walls were pictures of Hitler and German soldiers dressed in full military uniform. We could read stories of Jews slowly losing their liberties and basic human rights. They were forced to give up things that they had worked their whole lives to earn. Many owned their own businesses. All I could think about was that this was just the beginning of their suffering, and nothing would compare to what was eventually going to happened to them. Soon I came to the end of the fourth floor and made my way down the stairs. Little did I know what an impact the next floor would have on me.

The third floor was unlike anything one could ever imagine. Even going through it a second time, you can never fully prepare yourself for what you see. This floor describes, in depth, the concentration camps, and what the Jewish people really had to go through. The only sound that could be heard was quiet little sobs from people as they looked up and saw the utter sadness around them. There were movies shown about medical experiments performed on prisoners and sculptures of the gas chambers. It was like living in a nightmare, but the horrible part was that it was a reality to so many people. I continued towards the end of the floor and discovered something that was truly unimaginable.

I entered a room through a narrow doorway, which opened up into a much larger space. I had remembered this room from my previous visit, but this time it seemed to stand out more. There was a stuffy feeling in the air; the smell was musty. In front of me was a small bridge to walk across. On both sides of the bridge were thousands of shoes that had belonged to Holocaust victims. Every type of shoe you could imagine was in this room. I saw women’s high heels, men’s dress shoes, and even tiny baby shoes. They all had a blue-gray tint to them that made the whole room reflect the same color. As I looked across to my left, I saw one small red sandal. It caught my attention just because of the color. It almost seemed to leap out at me because it was so bright. The color was hardly faded. Along the top strap of the shoe were small bronze buckles. Just by the size and color, I am sure it belonged to a small girl. There was no match to it anywhere.

Throughout the rest of the museum I continued to think about the small red shoe. I could not shake the image from my head. The tour of the museum ended with stories of survivors and their accounts of the camps. That little girl was not one of them. The only surviving part of that little girl was her one red sandal. That is when it hit me what had really happened there. I thought to myself that that little girl probably had no idea why this was happening to her. She went about every day wearing her little red sandals and playing, without a care in the world. She was oblivious to the fact that one day she would die because of a religion she didn’t even fully understand yet.

When I was a child, I remember how carefree and fun life was. The simplest of things could make me happy. I am sure that girl had the same kind of childhood before the Holocaust. I can see that girl playing and running with her bright red sandals on. Little did she know how soon that carefree childhood would end. As a child, I never worried about the dangers of my beliefs and if I would be harmed because of them. Children do not think of these things. That little girl did not ask for what was happening to her; it just happened. As we grow up, we begin to worry about things that are important, but we take our worries too far. At the beginning of that week I was worried about my anatomy test. That was all I could think about. When I saw that tiny shoe, I began to think about what’s really important. That little girl’s life was cut short because of unimaginable evil, and there I was worried about an anatomy test.

They called our trip a Quest for Significance. It truly was one. I went into that museum with a closed mind to what was once a real world. After leaving the museum I began to think about all the things I had taken for granted in my life. I discovered how lucky I was to be able to live every day in the freedom of America. That little girl left her mark on my life through one red shoe. With that shoe, she taught me the value of freedom. Throughout my life, I will never forget her red sandal or the dramatic difference it made in my life.