Today I went to the London War Museum (a.k.a Britain At War Experience) and the Imperial War Museum. Both of these museums were very emotional and an experience for everyone to see.

The London War Museum shows what it was like to live in London during WWII. The entrance takes you into what a tube station would look like with bunk beds and book cases with books against the walls. A video was on the far wall explaining the war and what was happening above ground. When you leave there are hallways that show rooms where people were interpreting codes over phones. Women were wearing uniforms if they were helping with the war; with the men off fighting the women would put out fires and help with the bombing shrapnel. There was a section that showed children and how unhappy they looked. My favorite part of the museum was the very end. A door led into the streets during an air raid. They had bodies displayed as if they had been hit by a bomb and showed people stealing the artifacts on the ground. The air was foggy and it smelled like stagnant water; it was well done and you really felt like you were there.

The Imperial War Museum was an eye opening experience. I only had time to visit two of the exhibits there but they were very sad. First I went to the Holocaust exhibit and that was very sad. I will not explain the things that were there because some of it would be too graphic for children. I will say though that it brought tears to my eyes and people were crying as you exited the exhibit. I then proceeded to The Children of The War exhibit and this was also very sad. Many children were shipped off to the country during the war so they would be out of danger. The parents had to stay behind though and this was very traumatizing. There were letters from children begging their parents to come get them and how they were living terribly. One girl reported to her parents that where she was they had a cage for animals and in the mornings they would take the animals out and place them in it with a bottle of water and a loaf of bread. The exhibit also showed how they lived before and how a typical house looked. You got to walk through the rooms and go up the stairs to other floors.

My experiences today will stay with me for the rest of my life and I suggest that if visiting that you take some time to go and see these two places. They change you forever. Check in tomorrow and send me a post.