A tour of the United States Holocaust Museum on Dec. 2 left President Gordon B. Hinckley and his traveling companions in a somber mood during a three-day visit to Washington, D.C.

President Hinckley was in the nation's capital to participate in the Christmas lighting ceremonies at the Washington Temple. He also addressed the ordinance workers of the Washington Temple, a youth fireside and spoke at a media luncheon. (See separate articles on this page and page 3.)The hour-long tour of the museum, a short distance southeast of the Washington Monument, was escorted by Michael Berenbaum, director of the museum's research institute. Berenbaum focused his attention on President Hinckley as he guided the way through a visual history of events that led to the killing of 6 million Jews earlier in this century.

"Terrible" was the word President Hinckley uttered over and over as he viewed the account of the atrocities perpetrated by Adolph Hitler.

After the tour, President Hinckley told Berenbaum about his personal experience with some of the events covered in the museum while he was serving his mission.

"I was in England in 1933-35 when Churchill was marching up and down England telling England to get prepared," he related. "We went to Germany after that and I saw all the pomp and circumstance. I went back after the war and saw the destruction and ruin.

"It's a whole chapter in the history of this generation that speaks volumes of the depravity to which people can sink and the heroic, wonderful situations to which they can rise."

Obviously still affected by the museum visit, he repeated the same sentiments later in the day when he spoke at the Festival of Lights in the Washington Temple Visitors Center. At that time he said similar things are still going on in various countries around the world, calling such treatment of human beings "a negation of the spirit of love and kindness of the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ."

The museum, which opened in early 1993, recounts the story of the Holocaust from Hitler's emergence and organization of the Nazi party through the liberation of the concentration camps by Allied troops at the end of World War II.

Among those joining President Hinckley on the tour were Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Vaughn J Featherstone of the Seventy and president of the North America Northeast Area. President Ralph W. Hardy of the Washington D.C. Stake arranged the tour and accompanied the group.

After a brief orientation at the museum's entrance, the group moved into the exhibit area. The exhibits include photographs from the era and documentary film footage. They illustrate the rise of the Nazis and the escalating persecution of the Jews, culminating with the death camps.

As the portrayal displayed events that were ever more appalling, President Hinckley expression became more saddened, his eyes fixed on the exhibit being described by Berenbaum's thorough and heartfelt narration.

Among the exhibits that President Hinckley and the rest saw were a railway boxcar that was actually used to transport Jews during the Holocaust, a bin containing thousands of pairs of shoes that were taken from the feet of those who were killed, bunks where those detained in concentration camps slept, and videotaped descriptions of the horrible experiences of the camps as told by survivors.

Finally, the group went into the Hall of Remembrance, a round room with a burning flame opposite the entrance, where visitors can reaffirm their resolve to remember what happened to a group of people a little more than just 50 years ago.

President Hinckley said visitors to the museum will gain "an understanding of what must be avoided in the future at all costs."