Conference taveng::bagels

    The number for information is 202-488-0400.  Tickets are free if you
    get them at the door, but if you get them in advance you have to go
    through Ticketmaster and there is a service charge.

    It is a good idea to get them in advance and as there are times that it is
    sold out.

    While I have not had the chance to go through, most of my family has
    (my sister is a volunteer guide there).  It will take you several hours
    to get through.  It also could be very emotional as the enormity of what
    you will see and feel sinks in.  

I am a Charter Member of the United States Holocaust Memorial.

When I recently travelled to DC, I found out that a special
ticket line opens at 8am for Members, for same-day tickets.
The woman told me that this line typically has between 10 and
20 people waiting, while the line for non-members can be
quite long (several hundred). The line for non-members opens
at 8:30.

Same-day tickets are given out on a first-come,
first-serve basis. 

When I showed up at 10, the earliest tickets I could get were
for 2:15. I received 3 tickets at no charge.

The memorial is serving about 2000 people per day, although by
mid November this may have tailed off somewhat. People were 5-6
deep in front of exhibits. 

To do this memorial properly, you need *at least* a half day.
I felt rushed to get through the permanent exhibit by closing (5:30).

Sam

Some exhibits are hidden behind walls so you have to be right up against the
wall to see them.  These are the ones which are most graphic/disturbing,
and they have them partially hidden so children won't see them.  Wheelchairs
have a special place they can view some of them, but it isn't very easy.
As a result, these exhibits are very hard to see and the crowd is thick.

I was there on opening day.  A friend was in line more than an hour before
it opened, and we got in almost right away.  I also got tickets for the rest
of our party since we didn't want to take the kids in and so had to take
turns seeing the exhibit and taking care of the kids.  It is recommended that
children under age 11 not see the exhibit.

I had 4 hours to see it, and still ended up rushing a bit.  It would take
me at least 5 hours to really see it.  It was a very good exhibit.  Bring
kleenex, too.

One of the things they do is to start you out with an identity card of someone
approximately your age who lived through part of the Holocaust.  My friend and
I were given the id's of sisters.  As you go through the exhibit there are
checkpoints where you can enter your card and it prints what happened to your
person at that time (late 30's, early 40's, etc).  We had to separate at the
end since my friend had to leave even earlier than I did.  The person on my
card lived through the war, though she had been in one of the concentration
camps.  Just recently I finally remembered to ask my friend about "my sister"
and learned that she had died in the camp.  :-(

     Carol

re: previous

	I was able to visit the museum on a Friday (November 5).  I'm sure there
was less of a crowd than there would be during the summer months or on a weekend.
I arrived right around the time ticket distribution began at 8:30.  There were 
about forty people in line in front of me.  I would have been able to get a 
ticket for 10:45 but since I didn't want to go until the afternoon I was given
a ticket for 1:00 instead.  I was told that ticket was good for anytime after
1:00.

	The museum was quite crowded but manageable.  I found out afterward that
Lady Margaret Thatcher had been there in the morning so I think some of the
ticket addmissions may have been shuffled making the afternoon more crowded.
I concur with the previous entries about how long it will take to see what you
want to see.  It depends on how much of the material you attempt to read and
absorb but I would allocate a minimum of half a day.

	Everyone should see this no matter what they're background.  It is an
excellent museum and a profound experience.

Brian Schimpf