Langley Rick Rick, 1

Kira van Lil

Art and War

06 May 2017

Holocaust Memorials Around the World

Throughout world history, there have been two world wars, both of which have been

devastating. Attached to the second world war, however, was one of the worst genocides in

history; The Holocaust. For both wars, there are memorials all over the countries that were

involved. The Holocaust, attached to World War II, receives its own memorials in many

different countries around the world. The memorials stand for remembrance, loss, and awareness

of the event.

When thinking about memorials, one doesn’t necessarily think about the thoughts that go

into the design of the memorials but the thoughts behind it are what make the memorials to the

Holocaust so successful. The designers of the memorials must think about the history, the

location, the design of the memorial, the victims, the survivors of the event, and the general

public. Looking into Holocaust memorials around the world, it seems that most of the memorials

can be put into two categories; remembrance and informational.

Today, almost 75 years after the Holocaust, there are people who still don’t believe this

genocide ever happened. Many countries want to educate the public on what happened and how

it came to happen so something like it never happens again. Study, interpretation, and education

on this genocide is crucial, especially today with everything that is happening in the United

States and the countries around us. Still, today, many people don’t want certain religious groups,

ethnicities, and other groups alive. People still threatened genocide but they might not

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know the magnitude behind the words they are saying, or maybe they do, which is the scary part.

We are approaching a time where survivors of the Holocaust will no longer be alive so their

story must be spread, heard, and documented. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum are dedicated to not only remembering what

the Nazis did but educating people so that something this terrible never happens again.

Most of the memorials around the world can be put into the category of remembrance.

Memorials are created to commemorate the victims of an event, to help survivors and family

members remember and honor their loved one/s, and to remind nations of a tragic event.

Although there are so many memorials about the Holocaust, each one is different and each one is

in a different location. Each of the Holocaust memorials are completely different but they all

remind us of the same thing, the tragedy that happened during World War II. Each of these

memorials is designed in a way to make the viewer think of what happened and is placed in a

location that is significant to the event. It’s amazing how many Holocaust memorials there are

around the world. The Emanuel Tree in Budapest, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in

Berlin, and The Hall of Names in Jerusalem are among the most prominent because of their

design and location.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, located in Washington, D.C. next to the

national mall is America’s way of remembering the Holocaust. The museum opened in 1993 and

since then, it has had over 40 million visitors from all over the world. Even though it is mostly a

museum, when you are walking through the museum, you care constantly reminded of the events

that happened and how the Holocaust came to be. The museum is dedicated to the

documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust.

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One of the museums main goals is to prevent future genocides and create awareness on how the

Nazis were able to execute what they did. Throughout the museum, there are quotes and

on how Adolf Hitler rose to power and how he was able to gain so many followers. The scary

part is that Hitler didn’t break any rules to become a dictator, he was elected by the people. It’s

still somewhat unclear if the people knew what he was going to do when he got complete power,

but it goes to show what someone can do when they are put in a position of power. This museum

does a smooth job of creating a balance between educating, remembering, and showing what the

Holocaust was, the effects it had, and how it’s remembered today. The museum is well-rounded

enough for children to understand what happened and so that survivors and members of the

Jewish community can go and feel as safe as they can be while surrounded by the photos and

artifacts on display.

The architecture of the museum is designed to be a “resonator of memory” which is

interesting because to resonate is to be filled with deep, full, reverberating sound. When inside

the museum, all you hear is the chatting of families but in some other parts of the museum all

you hear is the sounds of peoples’ footsteps which is what the architect is talking about. The

interior of the building is frightening but that’s what the architect wanted. He intended for the

interior to evoke fear and deception. Having been to Europe and many of the places occupied by

Nazi Germany, the interior of the building resembles some of the ghettos and concentration

camps with its red brick walls, iron bars sticking through the walls, and small windows at the

very top towards the ceiling. I later found out that the architect researched WWII German

architecture and got his inspiration from Holocaust sites. It’s intriguing that the architect would

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want to subject the visitors to a place where millions of victims died but it also reminds the

visitors what the victims must have gone through and endured during the Holocaust.

I think it’s interesting that the United States choose to have their memorial to the

Holocaust as a museum as well. The fact that it’s a museum as well puts a twist on the memorial

because there are people coming not only to remember and honor the victims and survivors, but

there are families, schools, and people interested in the Holocaust and want to know more about

it.

Inside the main entrance of the museum is a Hall of Remembrance where victims,

survivors, and family can light a candle and reflect. It is a memorial within a memorial which is a

powerful thing. When you walk in, the remembrance room is a light beige stone color in a

hexagonal shape, which is supposed to represent the six points of the Star of David. On five of

the walls, there are the names of the biggest concentration camps with candles lining the wall.

On the back wall, opposite of the door, there is a black marble plaque that reads, “Only guard

yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw, and lest these

things depart your heart all the days of your life and you shall make them known to your

children, and to your children’s children.” This is a powerful quote because it is embodying the

goals of the museum while also honoring those lost in the Holocaust. The quote is reminding us

to never forget what happened, to honor those who died, and to pass on what happened to future

generations so that it never happens again. The quote is also engraved on a shiny black stone

wall in which you can see your reflection. The fact that you can see your reflection while also

reading the quote is energetic because it’s like you are meeting and seeing the dead who you are

remembering and honoring. The black stone acts like a door to the other side and visitors have

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the chance to meet the dead. In the center of the memorial room, a large flame burns on top of

another black engraved stone that reads, “Here lies earth gathered from death camps,

concentration camps, sites of mass execution, and ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe, and from

cemeteries of American soldiers who fought and died to defeat Nazi Germany.” I think this is an

important thing to have in the Hall of Remembrance because it serves as a portal for those who

can’t go to Europe and visit all those sites and reflect there. The Hall of Remembrance is one of

the most important features of this museum and it makes the museum a memorial as well.

Another museum that is also a memorial is the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum

in Poland. This is the biggest concentration camp the Nazis had and right after the war ended,

Poland stepped in wanting to preserve the site and buildings still standing. During the final days

of the war, the Nazis began demolishing all the sites where they held executions and murders

because they wanted to remove all traces of what they had done, however they didn’t have time

to destroy everything so many buildings and remains are still standing in Europe today.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum is open to the public because Poland wants to educate

the world on the things that took place at that location while also remembering and honoring

those who lost their lives there. Like the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, this

museum is dedicated to the memory of those lost and to the awareness of the Holocaust.

As part of the museum, visitors are able to tour the sites and buildings where millions of

people lived the last days of their lives. You are able to walk the rooms they lived in, see the

locations where they were tortured, and go into the buildings where they died. Outside in the

camp, the chatter of voices from visitors and the talk of the tour guides is heard, but the minute

you walk into a building there is instant silence. Inside the buildings, you can hear the petrified

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whispers of the walls of the buildings and what they endured and sometimes hear the screams of

the people who were kept there. There are gas chambers and death walls still standing which is

hard to see but I think it’s important that people see them because it shows what happened there

and the things the Nazis were capable of doing. Although there is so much evidence pointing to

what the Nazis did, including survivors, photographs, and sites around Europe, there are still

people who don’t believe the Holocaust ever happened. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum

is dedicated to education of the Holocaust and prevention of another one happening. Before

entering the site, there is tight security. This isn’t just a memorial, it’s a place where major events

took place and a preservation site.

This is one of the most powerful memorials to the Holocaust because of its relationship to

the event. Many Jews lost their lives here and it’s fitting that the place to remember them is the

place where they died. Inside some of the buildings are display cases filled with shoes, hair, and

suitcases each with the name of their owner. The suitcases are the strongest because when the

Jews were put on trains, they were told they were going on vacation so they packed their bags.

When they got off the train, they were in Auschwitz and the Nazi soldiers took their bags from

them. The fact that each of the suitcases has the owners name is a sobering thing because you’re

able to see that these people really existed and this actually happened to them. The suitcases

serve as a form of documentation for all the victims that came to Auschwitz and never came out.

Visitors are allowed to stand in the gas chambers where millions lost their lives which is

incredible because you would think that they wouldn’t let anyone into those places. Inside those

buildings is a place of reflection to remember those who lost their lives there.

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It’s imperative that this memorial stay alive and continues to bring in visitors from

around the world because of the significance it has with the Holocaust. By visiting this memorial

and museum, visitors are not only honoring those who never came out of Auschwitz, they are

also learning and seeing where these things happened. This place is a primary source to the

Holocaust as well as a memorial.

In the other category of memorials, are most of the other Holocaust memorials. These

memorials are mainly dedicated to the survivors and family of the victims and people affected in

the Holocaust. In Budapest, behind the biggest synagogue in Europe, is a weeping willow tree

memorial to the Holocaust. Also, known as the Emanuel Tree, the memorial is made completely

out of aluminum, even the leaves. Since the tree is made of aluminum, whenever it’s slightly

windy out, the tree makes a melodic noise calling out to the victims. The tree has eight branches

to represent the eight branches on a menorah; if you were to turn the memorial upside down it

turns into a menorah. At the top of the memorial, written in Hebrew, there is a quote that reads,

“whose agony is greater than mine.” In my opinion, this quote means that nobody today will ever

suffer more than those who were involved in the Holocaust. Today many people complain about

their life and everyday things but people aren’t putting that into perspective. People today have

never known what it was like to live while the Nazis had power, so they can’t image the fear that

people lived in back then. When the Nazis were in power, many people, not only the Jews, lived

in fear of what would come because the Nazis could come at any moment and drag you out of

your home. People today, have never lived with that fear, so this memorial is not only

commemorating those who lost their lives, but those who lived during that time.

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Each of the leaves has a name of a Jewish family engraved on it so the tree is alive with

the spirits of the Hungarian victims. This tree is alive with sprits of those who perished during

the Holocaust and they make noise whenever there is wind. Unlike many memorials, this is an

ongoing memorial because leaves with family names are constantly being added to the tree. It’s

special that people can continue to add to the tree because it means the tree will never die or get

forgotten. With people always adding names to the tree, there will always be people visiting the

tree. The most important thing about this memorial is the fact that the tree makes noise whenever

there is a slight breeze. During the Holocaust, the skies saw everything that happened and now

the sky is blowing on the memorial making the spirits on the tree come alive. The breeze can

pick up at any moment making the leaves rustle, or there will be no breeze at all inviting the

visitors to think. With each clink of leaves brushing together, the spirits are whispering amongst

themselves and with the people visiting them, which makes this memorial especially powerful.

This memorial is one of the more private memorials because of its location. Since it’s

located in the fenced courtyard of a synagogue, not just anyone can visit the memorial. Visitors

have to know about the memorial if they want to see it because it’s not out in the open where the

public can just walk up and look at it. To get to the memorial, you have to go through the

synagogue which is a holy place so visitors have to be quiet and polite while walking through.

Finally, after walking through the synagogue, and a couple long hallways, you can visit the

Emanuel Tree. Making the journey to the memorial makes visiting it more special, personal, and

more of a big deal. Only the people who truly care and know about the memorial will take the

effort to go see this memorial, which means that when you do visit the memorial, the people who

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you are surrounded by, care just as much as you do. The visitors are surrounded by the old

synagogue that was never completely destroyed, so the building can do its own talking about

what it saw during the Nazi regime. The Emanuel Tree is a simple yet commanding memorial to

those who know about it and to those who have visited it.

On a completely different scale, there is a memorial in Berlin that is completely open to

the public and doesn’t even have a sign on it saying what it is. This memorial is called Memorial

to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This memorial takes up an entire block of Berlin and people

can stumble across it or they can seek it out. Consisting of 2,711 concrete slabs slowly sloping

upwards, this memorial holds the names of 3 million victims. While this memorial was opened

recently in 2005, there have been a lot of criticism around it. Since the memorial is so vast and

open, many people like to have picnics on the lower concrete blocks and there have been many

vandalism incidents. Despite all the criticisms, this memorial is one of the most intriguing

because of its room for interpretation and how it’s displayed to the public.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is one of the most public and most private

memorials at the same time. It takes up so much space in the heart of Germany that it’s unlikely

that you will come across another person while wandering between the concrete blocks, which

makes the experience more personal and connects the viewers to the people they are

remembering. At the same time, there is no sign or anything to tell the viewers what they are

looking at and what each of the cement blocks mean so in that regard, they could feel distant and

disconnected from those who they are supposed to be remembering. Many people visiting Berlin

will come across this memorial and not know what it is, which could cause them to perform

actions that ordinarily wouldn’t take place at the site of a memorial. However, because of all the

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controversy about there being no sign, an underground visitor center was placed so people can

learn about the sculpture.

One thing that’s interesting about this memorial is that the sculpture itself holds no

symbolic significance other than the grey cement blocks resembling a cemetery. Apart from the

cemetery reference, this sculpture is open to interpretation. Because the sculpture is so vast and

open, people can remember the victims in their own way and create their own connections with

them through the sculpture. It’s said that this memorial was built at this location because leaders

from around the world can see it from their buildings and remember what happened and the

tragedies that took place.

One person said that this memorial is a “living experiment in montage.” Before the

Holocaust, the people of Europe frolicked in the town main square and enjoyed playing in the

open city until the Nazis took power and the people were thrown into a time of fear where they

didn’t know if they were going to get out. This sculpture represents that in a loose way because

the outskirts of the field of blocks are shallow and you can clearly find your way out, but as you

go deeper into the sculpture, the blocks begin to rise above you and it’s harder to find your way

out. The sculpture is mimicking how the Jews felt during the time of the Nazis because of its

structure. This is only a loose interpretation of the memorial, and many other have come up with

their own interpretation. This is the one I think is the most intriguing because it creates an

experience for the viewer and turns the memorial into a metaphor.

I find this memorial intriguing because of how people interact with it. Some people have

picnics on it and others treat it how a memorial would normally be treated. I think it would be

interesting to see how people would react if there were signs put around the memorial telling the

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public what it is. The relationships that people create with this sculpture is special because there

are no instructions on how to interact with it which makes it a personal relationship between the

viewer and the sculpture. This memorial is one of the most public ones because of how easily

accessible it is, so there is a different audience of people, that the individuals who go visit the

Emanuel Tree in Budapest. The people who visit this memorial are most likely people who have

stumbled across it during their day, rather than setting aside time in their day to go visit it. This

memorial serves as a place for people to go and remember those who were lost at any point of

their day, which is powerful because it also brings in people who are thinking about the

Holocaust and want to be in a place with other people who are remembering them.

Finally, there is a memorial in Jerusalem that is a balance between super public and super

intimate. The memorial originated from a Names Room in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem which was

established in 1968. This room held the original testimonies of Holocaust victims, until the Hall

of Names was opened in 1977. The Hall of Names is open to the public, and also serves as

backup to the original Names Room.

The Hall of Names is a vital memorial to the Holocaust because of its location and what

it holds inside. Jerusalem is a holy place to the Jewish culture and many Jews make a trip there at

least once in their lifetime, if not more. Inside, there are over 2.5 million original testimonies

which are the stories from Holocaust victims and survivors. Another interesting fact about this

memorial, is that all the testimonies are also located on a database online. People who unable to

make the journey to Jerusalem as part of their religion or to visit the memorial, are able to go

online to access all of the testimonies.

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One of the most interesting things about this memorial is that it’s an ongoing memorial.

Families can submit their stories at their own pace whenever they feel they’re ready to release

their story. That makes this memorial very powerful because, it means that all of the stories held

at the memorial are put there by the person the story belongs to or by a family member. This puts

a curious twist on the memorial because it means that most of the testimonies at the memorial

have been put there because the family or victim have come to terms with what happened and

feel comfortable enough to share their story with the public.

The Hall of Names is a circular room where people can go in and then look up. Looking

up there is a void into the sky, filled with pictures of victims and survivors. Behind the persons’

portrait is there testimony. Around the perimeter of the room are all the millions of testimonies.

The public can’t go pull them off the shelf but if you ask for a particular one, a staff member will

pull it from the shelf for you. The way the pictures and room is designed, the visitor has to look

up and looking up you see all the faces of those who lost their lives during the Holocaust. It’s as

if the designer of the memorial wanted the visitors to look up and meet the dead in heaven,

which is a powerful concept. I think it’s necessary that there is a Holocaust memorial in

Jerusalem because so many people from the Jewish community visit, and they need a space to

honor and remember those who died instead of going solely for religious purposes.

Looking more closely at Holocaust memorials opens your eyes to what the designers of

them might have been thinking. The designers must take in a lot of consideration and thought

into the memorials because over time, so many people will visit them, including survivors,

family members, and the general public. Upon looking deeper, it’s easy to see the memorials can

be categorized into educational/informational and remembrance. Although those are the main

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categories, the memorials each send different messages to their visitors while still

commemorating the Holocaust. Today, the Holocaust happened almost 75 years ago, but it is one

the events that sticks with countries forever because of the devastation it had on so many people,

including those today. The memorials are works of art remembering those who lost their lives

and were affected by the Holocaust, but even if they didn’t exist the Holocaust would never be

forgotten.

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The New Yorker, 17 July 2014. Web. 03 May 2017.

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