My Daughter's Chilling Account of Years at Holocaust Museum
On Wednesday, as the fatal shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. unfolded, I couldn't help recalling that my daughter, Jeni Mitchell, just out of college, worked at the museum during its start-up, in 1992, through its 1993 opening, and two years after that. I also remembered that she had told me, long ago, about some of the scary threats she and others received just for working there, and the extraordinary security measures (little publicized) that they had to take. Of course, I forgot most of the details.
Fortunately, moved and upset by the tragic attack by a racist, anti-Semite, she wrote me from London -- where she's getting her Ph.D. -- last night, reflecting on her experience at the museum back in the 1990s.
Here's some of what she sent along:
The entire time I worked there, we always expected something terrible to happen. I was very lucky it didn't while I was there -- but it wasn't for lack of trying. Our head of security was a former FBI guy and he said we would not believe the volume of threats.
While the museum was being built, we were told that neighboring buildings were enhancing their security and protection in anticipation that the Museum would be a target for violent extremists, possibly even blown up.When we opened, each of us working there received a 'security kit.' This was to supplement our in-person briefings. The kit contained instructions on what to do in the case of a bombing, an evacuation, receiving a bomb threat, etc.
The kit also included a piece of paper stapled to a stick; the paper screamed in bold letters, 'I'M GETTING A BOMB THREAT!' The idea was that if I were to receive an actual bomb threat, I should keep the guy on the line, stand on my chair and wave this sign around frantically until someone noticed.
One time, I was talking to this very nice woman in NYC on the phone, when our evacuation alarm went off. It was right behind my desk so I gave a little scream. I was pretty sure it was a drill, so I shouted into the phone 'I'll have to call you back,' but I couldn't be heard over the noise.
Off we went for our evacuation drill. Half an hour later I returned to my desk and called the woman back. It turns out that in the interim, she had called everyone she knew in New York to tell them the holocaust museum had been blown up. Whoops.
I actually received death threats. Personally, addressed to me at my office. Written in cramped, sociopathic handwriting, pages and pages of nonsense. I turned them over to security and didn't worry about it (who would bother to kill the schedule coordinator?) but it was chilling.
Also: Long before 9/11 we were well-versed in the procedures for unattended items. Several times we had to evacuate the main exhibit when lone bags were found (although thankfully they were false alarms). But I always felt that the people in the cloak room had the most worrisome job in the building.
A couple months ago, when there was that big controversy over the Department of Homeland Security report on potential right-wing terrorism, I could NOT believe that it was somehow controversial. Working at the Holocaust Museum in the first years of the Clinton administration was like having a front-row seat to right-wing hate groups. They are a peculiar American pathology, and they are not going anywhere.
I am really just heartbroken that after all these years, such terrible violence happened at a place dedicated to peaceful coexistence, nonviolence, mutual understanding, etc. And I am furious that an octogenarian nutcase can kill an innocent person.
Why do people keep working at places that are under threat? Because they're so important, and because we love working there. I never met a person who went through the whole museum who wasn't deeply, deeply affected by it. That makes all the craziness worthwhile.
Yes, there were people who hated us. They might act upon it; but what can you do? Run away? No. A small number of people wished us ill. A huge number of people were enduringly affected by their visit. There was no contest.
My co-workers there were immensely talented, intelligent, funny, brave and audacious. Many of them still work there, and I can only imagine what they are going through right now. Do they still think it's worth the risk to work there? I'm going to guess the answer is yes.
I never knew Stephen Johns, but he sounds like many of the security officers I knew then - friendly, helpful, always alert but unfailingly polite. I can't help but think that when he saw that old man coming toward the door, he thought: Here's a survivor, or a veteran, someone to be treated with special respect.
Anyway, sorry to ramble, I'm just pretty upset about this, and feeling mournful that the price to be paid for an Obama presidency seems to be an epidemic of well-armed lunatics."
To visit Jeni Mitchell's blog, the Crime-Conflict Nexus, go via this link.
Greg Mitchell's latest book is "Why Obama Won." He is editor of Editor & Publisher. Email: gmitchell@editorandpubliisher.com
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Your daughter sounds like a compassionate, intelligent, level-headed woman. Reading her letter makes me sad, but it also reminds me that warm, smart people still dominate the US. Their signatures on the country are just not as loud as the sound of gun blast or hate speech. I especially agree with her last sentiment.
Thank you for sharing this.
It is very painful to imagine a site that commemorates the victims and survivors of genocide could be a target of more extremist violence.
This is a wonderful article I came across about how anti-Semitism is rearing it's ugly head in the midst of the financial crisis.
http://fic
It is not unusual for minority groups to become targets during hard economic times. I hope Obama can see us out of this mess before any more harm is done.
PLEASE do a search on hate crime hoaxes
I too worked at the Holocaust Museum during its early years. I agree with Jeni Mitchell about the high caliber of our co-workers. They were a fine bunch, for whom association with the Museum's mission was more than a job. All the best to those who remain there during this traumatic time.
I visited the Holocaust Museum in 2000 and spent over 3 hours there. It isn't just about the Jewish victims, but Gypsies/Roma, Gay/Lesbians, mentally ill or of limited mental ability, political protesters, Communists, Catholic and other religious ministers who were also victims of the Nazi murder policies. The museum also notes Holocausts, Genocides and mass killings throughout the world before and after WWII. There is no doubt that his holds a connection to something people want to deny or forget.
I was never aware of the hatred put upon those that work there. I currently work for a company that was a victim of and lost employees in the 9/11 attacks at the WTC. They too have policies to deal with terror/bomb threats, require evac drills and other measures for the possible threats from terror bombs to disgrunteled clients they face.
Thanks for passing that along....a real eye-opener. We thought we only had to worry about the outside lunatics!
Where are the religious "leaders" in all this? Why aren't the heads of the Catholic and Protestant faiths speaking out against this sort of hate and violence and speaking up for people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds?
Perhaps because everyone not of their religion is going to h_ll?
Just a guess.....
Ha Ha in a handbasket
They do, in chuch every Sunday, at least in mine they do.
Thank you for sharing such a touching letter.
"There came a day in 1985 (my dad had died in 1984) that I began to take another look at my commitment to the both the far right of the Republican Party and the Religious Right. I came to realize that I was in bed with a group of people who were profoundly anti-American. They were professional haters. They wrapped themselves in the flag and "loved America," but it was an America in their imaginations only and cast in their image: white, middle-class, straight, born-again, homophobic and tinged with racism, not to mention misogyny."
Frank Schaeffer: Republican Disaster -- The (Unspoken) Anatomy of The Meltdown
***
Greg Mitchell - thank your daughter for me, for sharing what she experienced.
I remember how so many on the left criticized the building of he Holocaust Museum in the first place. "Why do the Jews get to build something so close to the White House?" "Why not a museum for... (pick your group)" "We've had enough of the Holocaust.
Elements of the extreme left and extreme right have one thing in common--An
It could just as easily be said - and has been said countless times - that anyone who criticizes the Israeli government is accused of being anything from an anti-semite to a holocaust denier.
I don't think that is really true, as I've seen that back and forth many times on this website's comment sections. The fact is that the criticism usually drifts into some sort of denial of Israel's particular security needs and concerns - and the whole history of those needs and concerns. Many that criticize Israel totally deny any and all bad behavior on the part of it's surrounding hostile Arab neighbors. That's when it becomes anti-semitic. It used to be that people just wanted to go back to the 67 borders, now it seem so many posting here don't believe Israel should have become a state in the first place.
I remember nothing of the kind. Kindly cite specific examples of leftists criticizing the building of the Holocaust Museum.
It is the extremists of the far right that are the traditional anti-semites, citizen:
http://the
And...
http://www
The denizens of the furthest left wing of America's body politic are traditionally *anti-Zionists,* and it is the likes of the Likud -inheritors of the Irgun- and their actions towards the Palestinians that are the object of their vitriol:
http://mid
What all extremists have in common, citizen, is their boundless capacity for intellectual dishonesty, and a willingness to twist the facts to support their agenda, the truth of any matter be damned.
Leland R. Erickson
Citizen
but to be a Zionist is simply to support the idea of Israel as a safe haven for Jewish people. To use the word "Zionist" as a general term to mean "evil Jew" is anti-semitic.
Yes
"Elements of the extreme left and extreme right have one thing in common--An
wrong...th
Extremely!
There are definitely whack jobs on the far left who make anti-semitic comments. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright , as a recent pathetic example, was quoted as blaming "them Jews" for not letting him talk to President Obama since his inauguration. However, I doubt that Wright, crazy as he may be, is going to commit some act of anti-semitic violence .
It seems to be the far right that go from hateful words to violent deeds, at least in recent years. While I'm sure there were threats from "left wingnuts" that the FBI had to check out during Bush's 8 years in office, I don't recall any serious acts of violence from the left during that whole time, and there were PLENTY of people angry at Bush and conservatives. There've already been four acts of rightwing violence resulting in fatalities in the 4+ months that Obama's been in office: the Holocaust Museum attack, the murder of Dr. Tiller, and two cop killing incidents in which the murderers were angry about Obama supposedly taking their guns away from them.
The "mainstream" conservatives have been promoting the conspiracy theory about gun confiscation, calling abortion providers "murderers, and Limbaugh has warned that Obama "hates white people" and is a worse threat to America than Al Qaeda. Sarah Palin claims that the government (Obama administration) wants to "control the people." Talk like that may not have led to any of these extremist attacks, but they sure don't discourage them.
Your one example is not a good one.
Welcome ot my life... If you think this is bad - try being a Jew in some other countries. In many parts Paris Jews can not wear yarmolka without being attacked. I remember line 5 in my pasport being stamped: Jew....
Johns is a victim, not a hero. Opening the door for the evil fool who immediately shot him was not a heroic act. Johns did not ( as CNN says over and over) "save hundreds of lives" in the museum. The actual heroes are the two officers who immediately engaged Braun with gunfire. The media doesn't bother to report their names. Ever since George Bush with his ignorant and mangled use of language declared the office workers in the Twin Towers on 9/11 all heroes, the media has misused the term. The heroes that day were the first responders and building staff who tried to save as many victims as possible. There were both victims and heroes on Flight 93 too, they weren't all heroes. My point is we need to save that word because using it inappropriately diminishes the honor and adulation we want to bestow on our heroes. Take the example of Flight 1549 that landed on the Hudson River. Were the passengers all "heroes" just for being there, like Johns was at the museum? If so, what word can we use to show our debt and appreciation to Capt. Sullenberger and his crew? Johns death is a tragedy for all humanity and we should be grateful to the heroic action of his brother officers that there were no more victims.
Thanks for clearing that up. Sheesh!
Johns is a hero because of his position and his willingness to put his life on the line every single day to take a job as a DC law enforcement officer, and specifically, at the HMM where they get thousands on threats per year. The simple fact that he lost his life performing his duties as a security officer is heroic. So watch who you summarily dismiss as not being a hero. I don't know what you have against Johns, but your twisted logic is offensive. Now, the passengers on the plane, nor the office workers at WTC may not be considered heroes, unless of course you were there, and was able to witness whether or not any of them performed heroic acts, like saving someone's life, or leading others to safety, or chopping through a wall or elevator door to free someone, or simply helping others to remain calm to avoid massive panic. There's enough room in this world for more heroes. I would opt to expand rather than contract that list. We build character a little bit at a time, and small acts of bravery, sacrifice, selflessness, and sometimes just doing our jobs, may go unnoticed or unappreciated by the likes of you, but are a tremendously powerful force that helps to reassure and inspire.
Hey, Johns was a hero for working at the museum....
parse much? sean?
Johns was a hero for putting on his uniform and showing up for work everyday knowing that each day could be inevitable day when some psychopath like vonBrunn finally followed through on their threats. Johns, like all those who work at the Holocaust Museum, wasn't a hero for being there on his last day at work; he was a hero for being there every day at work.
I would like to ask the extremists of both persuasions if they truly love America, as so many of them claim. And is this how they want the country they profess to love to be viewed - as a cesspool of virulent hate, of senseless violence? I weep for this country, and I fear for her future if these people ever regain power.
Read Glenn's article over at Salon. Persecution complexes, paranoia, right wing radio, and the NRA are a lethal mix.
its a good article, a really good article
the victim complex on a large scale, these people will always be victims because they believe they are
That was a touching letter.
Make your generous contribution to Stephen Johns's memorial fund. Contact the American Jewish Community at 202-785-4200.
Thank you.
great insight thanks
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