Having reached the end of the previous hall, it's time to around the corner into what is immediately recognizable as the last hall of the permanent exhibit, with an exit sign hanging by the door at the end of the hall. The first thing visible is a large poster display reading "Surviving and Rebuilding: Jewish life after the war". Just passed sits a large glass display case filled with various paper documents, perhaps most powerful of which is a birth certificate from a displaced persons camp dated July 29. 1949. On the other side of the corner, the walls take on a slightly lighter shade of grey and another large glass display, which leans toward the visitor, is titled "Liberation". It contains photos taken mostly by American liberators of content that includes smiling survivors against a no longer electrified fence, doctors treating victims, American liberators looking at burned corpses, and so on. Between the pictures, an original copy of the US Allied Occupation Proclamation stands, written in both English and German.

Along the wall that runs lengthwise down the hall, more display cases present artifacts and images from the liberation. There is a letter written by an American soldier after liberation next to a photo of liberated survivors delousing one another. Here, as much as anywhere else in the museum and perhaps more, actual artifacts comprise a majority of the display. Next to an official copy of the "SS Dachau" pamphlet describing horrifying accounts of the camps history, a pamphlet distributed to high ranking US officers, can be found an old camera, stripped from a German officer by an American soldier at the gates of Dachau. Next to that sits several original copies of newsletters produced by Dachau survivors translated into several languages, accompanied by an old article from the local newspaper "The Houston Chronicle" written by one of their reporters who was sent to Europe after the war.

Further along the wall, another glass display houses immigration rejection letters, displaced persons identity cards, driver's licenses, marriage certificates, repatriation certificates, and several other documents attesting to the reintegration of the Jewish community. On the other side of the hall, 12 individual tablets display the various war crime trials organized by the "Accused, Verdict, Sentence, and Outcome". Back on the other side of the wall, further towards the exit, the walls seem even lighter in color and a large photo shows a boat arriving to Palestine, full of Jews. Next to it another front page from "The Houston Chronicle" wears the headline, "Jews Proclaim Independent State". A few more pictures surround on the subject of the creation of the Jewish state. A large display reads, "Survivors in the United States" and shows pictures of Jews being integrated into the United States. Directly next to it, another display lists more than a hundred survivors who came to Houston. Beneath, a tablet is titled "Witness: The Community of Houston Survivors" and goes on...

"We honor our survivors living and dead, who made their home in the Houston area. Some of them survived the holocaust, either in concentration or labor camps, or in hiding in disguise. Others were able to escape from Nazi persecution by fleeing their homeland. While "the holocaust" refers specifically to the systematic persecution and annihilation of the Jews, we also honor he non-jews in or community who were victims of Nazi aggression. Holocaust survivors inspire us with their strength, their courage, and their perseverance. The are living proof of the indomitable human spirit".

I now find myself at the end of the hall. In front of me, a small wall next to the exit door houses a tablet with the museums mission statement as well as another that asks the visitor, "Has the world learned from the Holocaust?" It continues...

"The state of the world leads us to say, not enough. As long as "ethnic cleansing" and mass murder of ethnic groups occur: worldwide incidents of anti-Semitism take place: and propagandists deny that the Holocaust ever happened, our answer must remain, Not enough... Remembering the Holocaust sensitizes and alerts us to the dangers of ethnic hatred, racism, and anti-semitism. It teaches us to take no good thing for granted, especially the values of America: liberty and justice for all... The Holocaust was not inevitable. Human decisions created it. People like us allowed it to happen. The holocaust reminds us vividly that each one of us is personally responsible for being on guard, at all times, against such evil. The memory of the Holocaust needs to serve as a reminder, in every aspect of our own daily lives, that never again must people be allowed to do evil to one another. Never again must racism and religious intolerance fill our earth. Each on of us needs to resolve never to allow the tragedies of the Holocaust to occur again. This responsibility belongs with each of us-- today."

Taking a step to my left, directly in front of me I now find the exit door. I pause. To my left I see the representative smoke stack, also visible in black brick here inside the museum, at the end of the exhibit. Through a glass window in the cylindrical brick structure I see a large movie screen showing perpetual footage of well dressed, elderly survivors telling their stories. Next to that, there's a black door entering the theater. I begin to approach. I pause. I feel scared, cautious. It feels like I'm walking into the showers at Dachau. As I enter, I momentarily expect gas to come from the circular vents above.