The Chapel

The small gallery know as "The Chapel" tells of the spritual and human sides of war. All branches of the military were issued Bibles, song books and prayer books, but it was the personal touch of the chaplains that kept many soldiers going through hellish conditions.

The Chaplains

It is said that there are no atheists in foxholes or in the air; and chaplains were very important to the military as well as to civilians and at times the enemy. They traveled with the troops administering to all, holding services in makeshift chapels wherever the soldiers were located — in camp, on the battlefields of Europe, aboard ships, on the Pacific islands, or in the jungles of Burma.

The Holocaust

The Chapel also chronicles the tragedy of the Holocaust of World War II, the attempt by Nazis to implement their so-called "Final Solution" that left more than 6 million Jews dead from disease, starvation and execution in the concentration camps. In this exhibit you will learn about the Warsaw Ghetto, the terrifying, hidden world of Anne Frank and the death camps such as Auschwitz.

One wonders how could the Holocaust could have beee allowed to happen. Only 10% of Germans were members of the Nazi Party, but the apathy of the otherwise good German people allowed a dictator to take absolute power and rule with force, making them a part of a reign of terror targeting innocent Jewish citizens. We must not forget, however, that more than 60,000 Germans died in the concentration camps for resisting the Nazi Party. While in the chapel, give thanks to a Higher Power that you didn't experience the Holocaust.