This article reminded me a lot of the dilemma that Germany faced when deciding how to memorialize the victims of the Holocaust. All memorials of victims pose interesting challenges. What is too much, what is not enough? Should it be abstract or more direct? Does one demonize the perpetrator of the crime or focus solely on the victims? When I was in Berlin last February, my class learned about the history of this process in Germany, which is still an ongoing one, more than 65 years after World War II ended. There were a lot of questions with how to go about memorializing the victims of the Holocaust, partially because nothing quite like it had happened before. Because it was so tricky, it took a long time for any memorials to be created, but now there are quite a few, all across the country. These memorials have, in fact, almost become a large part of German life. For example, German school children learn about the Holocaust in detail in their curriculum and some schools take field trips to a concentration camp. It is definitely not something they take lightly. One of the more abstract and controversial memorials is found near the center of Berlin, and is titled “The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe” (pictured). The memorial consists of 2711 concrete slabs, each about 8 ft long and 3 ft wide but each of varying height, some more than 15 ft tall, laid out in a grid pattern. Since there are virtually no signs indicating what this is, and since it can be approached from any angle, the memorial does not seem all that powerful when simply looked at, but that feeling changes once you walk through it. Because of the way it is designed, the person walking gets quickly surrounded by these slabs, which is meant to create an uneasy or disorientating feeling, supposedly symbolizing how quickly things went from not so bad to Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Some critics disagree, however, and find the whole thing largely meaningless, mostly due to its abstraction, or dislike that it only is a memorial to murdered Jews and not other persecuted groups. And because of the lack of indication that this is a monument, it is also not terribly uncommon to see people climbing on top of some of the smaller slabs.
It's so interesting to hear about your experience. I am sure it was a tough topic for the whole country to decide on; what is the right way to go about creating the memorial without offending or hurting any more people?
ReplyDeleteI think the memorial you discuss is controversial. It does seem like a powerful memorial, but only once you know what it is. If I had been there and had no background information I might feel uncomfortable, but it wouldn't affect me emotionally, because of the lack of knowledge and connection with the events. The Oklahoma City memorial on the other hand is very clear and tells you exactly how you should feel, making it more accessible and understood.