This blog post is brought to you by Pat, who listened to the rant and asked me to write it down. If you don’t like it, go harass him on Twitter.
So, I was in Berlin. One of the things you do in Berlin is learn about World War 2, the Nazis, Hitler, the Holocaust and all the associated atrocities. Growing up when and where I did, I actually have a pretty good handle on this, I think. True, none of my family were killed (to my knowledge), but I have visited Holocaust museums and memorials all over the United States. Now I’ve also seen several in Germany as well.
What follows is a criticism of these things that applies to all but one of them. To be clear, I am not criticizing nor questioning the need for such things, simply the manner in which they have been executed.
Berlin's Holocaust Memorial
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin was designed by an American architect. It’s stark and stolid and, according to our tour guide, intentionally vague. She said that the artist’s idea was that by making it vague, the viewer would be forced to consider it and, in so doing, consider the Holocaust.
The truth is, I found it pretty moving. It’s sort of bizarre to be asked to consider something like the Holocaust with kids treating the thing like it’s an amusement park maze, but whatever. At the time I thought it interesting, and so laden with symbolism and meaning that anyone who stopped to think about it would certainly ballpark the intent, or lack thereof.
Still, as I considered it more, I found it was wildly dissatisfying to me, so I’m just going to come out and say it: Considering is not enough.
Of course these people and their struggles and suffering should be remembered, but what good are those memories if they are not doing anything about those who today experience the same struggles and suffering?
Here’s what I think the perfect Holocaust memorial would be: I want a HUGE screen. Huge. Permanent. In front of a huge public square where people gather for national events, picnic, walk through on their way to work, whatever. On the screen, 24/7 in a wide variety of languages is a never ending and current broadcast, piecing together all the news of the day from around the world where genocides and genocide-like events are occurring.
I want people not just to remember. I want people to know that we’re not beyond it. We’re not through it, we’re not over it, and we are certainly not above it.
Holocausts are still happening, but for some reason our awareness of them is stuck in the past. Wouldn’t it be the most beautiful monument to those who perished to prevent more senseless suffering in their memory?
I love your idea. Most people don’t know that holocausts ARE still happening. Most people want to keep their heads in the sand.
I have to agree with you that I don’t find the memorial particulary vague. Indeed, it’s rather moving and walking by, or through, it, is rather intense.
Having said this, I wasn’t too sure about the intentions of it either. Whether it is appropriate, or not, and also who it is “for”.
There’s been a lot of controversy and discussion on the sole fact that the holocaust was not limited to jews but included other ethnic groups and people with a political background.
I sometimes think that all these things have not been addressed, or maybe rather poorly (no offense to anyone, of course).
But in the end, I still think it is a great piece of — excuse me — art. I feel that it really gets people thinking. For once, it’s literally monumental and hard to not notice. It sparks all those different emotions in people and because it is in such a central place, a lot of people go by it and are confronted with it every day.
I don’t even mind the kids playing on it, or the people hanging out in the summer. In opinion that means that it’s accepted into daily life and that it won’t be forgotten.
(We) Germans don’t want to judged just by the history of the past century, but of course this is part of our history as well. And despite all the things you can rebuild and the money you can try to compensate people with, this is not going away.
Which is one of the simple things I “like” about it.
I also like your idea, of course. It’s pretty necessary too.
Brilliant idea. Let today’s holocausts get the attention they deserve. Place it next to the existing monument.