Several weeks ago, I attended the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in North Miami along with many people of different faiths. The exhibition was a remembrance of the massacre that took place on October 7th in Israel.
Reading the online material beforehand, I thought I would be prepared for what I would see and experience, but I was wrong.
Even though the visitors were told that what we would see was “disturbing”, this did not fully describe the magnitude of emotions when seeing the exhibits. It was more than disturbing and it stayed with me for quite a while.
I have been to Auschwitz and other concentration camps several times on the March of The Living but that was different. The Holocaust was decades ago. But this was contemporary, almost 1½ years ago.
The victims were kids who were there to dance and have a good time, almost like Woodstock or Coachella. But they were surprised and unexpectedly attacked… 370 were viciously, inhumanely, slaughtered, and 44 kidnapped. Only the lucky survived.
This large exhibition took place in a television/movie studio. The interior was similar to a campground including trees and blankets. It was laid out like the festival with portable toilets, refreshment stands, DJ stands, stage, and tents.
As you walked through the area, you could feel what it must have been like to be there. Laying on the ground were cell phones of the victims, some with videos of what was happening before they were killed. Sandals, backpacks, and clothing that was collected after the massacre were on display.
There were portable toilets riddled with bullet holes and burned-out cars. One could watch videos and read survivor stories of what they experienced.
One room displayed pictures of those who were murdered so they could be honored and remembered. That wall of pictures seemed incredibly long.
In front of one picture was a mother who pointed at her son and told the story of his life.
In another room, there were two survivors who told their stories of that day and why they chose to be witnesses and speak about their experience.
I kept thinking as I looked at these pictures that these were only kids looking to have a good time before they actually grow up.
This exhibition was created to remember and honor those who were murdered as well as to fund healing programs for the survivors.
The exhibition was tough, but I was thankful that I saw it. Maybe there would be less hate in the world if more people actually saw what hate can do.
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