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By Laura McCracken 5 minute Read
By Laura McCracken 5 minute Read
The plans for this memorial were not made hastily nor without thought, the project took seventeen years to finish, finally opening to the public in May 2005. Walking through this dedication is a privilege. It is a living work of art, because it is best experienced in person. Photos do not do it justice. My advice is walk alone and open your mind and allow yourself to fully experience the journey through the grey bricks and columns.
There are other memorials, holocaust museums and dedications to the millions of Jews murdered during the Nazi regime both in Germany and throughout the world, but this one is different. Maybe it is different because the memorial is in Berlin, Germany's capital, former Nazi regime headquarters, the place of Hitler's suicide on the 30th April 1945. This memorial was started in June 1990, just six months after the Berlin wall fell, as one chapter of history ended, Germany had time to reflect on past chapters. It was a time of contemplation: a time to rethink Berlin. In the wake of reunification, Berlin looked forward to reclaim its prestige as capital and backwards to remember the past. The literal and metaphoric 'falling' of the wall left space both emotionally and physically to fill. The idea of a memorial was born.
Why is this memorial special? Let's begin with the name; in German - Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas - The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Reunited Germany decided not to use any euphemisms. Lives lost, demised, deceased this vocabulary was not strong enough. The commission wanted a name for this dedication that stated the facts. 'Lost' is a euphemism, these lives were not lost, they were brutally ended, they were killed. These people had done nothing wrong other than belong to a certain religion, live in a certain country, at a particular time. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is an admission, recognition and its name leaves nothing to the imagination.
I chose this first photo deliberately. It is similar to the photos I saw before I visited. The photo is realistic but it does not truly portray the experience of being there in person - it doesn't reflect how you will feel as you walk through the solemn towers.
The columns are like tombstones, they vary in height from shin level to towering over your head, they line the square stone, paved paths . Geometric; the grey symmetrical paving squares lead between the columns, but their regularity in form is misleading. The paths are uneven, they rise unpredictably up and down. The paving, uniform in width creates continuity, an equilibrium, but the paths' irregular step, rising up and down makes the visitor unexpectedly stagger. The disconcerting grey waving path causes an unpredictable cadence a precarious balance between the expectancy our eyes expect from the path and the reality; an undulating, jolting experience.
We expect a straight path in life - like the uniformity of the paving squares but the waves in the walkway, cause you to stumble and the loss of cadence is unnerving. It reveals that our expectancy of a level path is an illusion. The peaceful expectation of a straight even path was shattered for the Jews we are remembering. The jolting, horror of war rose to meet them like the path to our feet. But for them the reality was much more serious than a stumble or stutter.
The paths cross, north/south/east/west and the columns differ in height throwing shadows in your wake.
In the photo above, the light is much narrower than the dark but your eyes are drawn to the light. Imaginary steps form in your mind. But again it is an illusion. The purposeful combination of shadow and sun caused by the shadow of the towering columns, trick your mind into seeing steps.
The light and darkness, transition from warmth and cool of this memorial is not a coincidence. It is meant to evoke further contemplation.
As you walk forward, stumbling occasionally on the uneven path, in and out of light and dark it provokes self examination to our own life and fortune. Were you born into the light, the 'right' religion at the 'right' time in the 'right' place? The difference between light and dark is one uneven step. The gamble of life, luck, the more privileged you were born the less dark you will have, the less you will stumble. The more dark, the more misfortune you were born into the higher the steps in your journey. Just like the imaginary steps in the photo below.
Are the imaginary stairs in this photo an escape? At the end of the 'stairs' the rows of pillars end for us but that too is an illusion. An illusion of perfectly placed columns and squares ending. An illusion that if you just keep on the right path, the straight one, all will be fine, maybe that works for some of us ? But that was not the case for the 6 million plus Jews who were murdered in Germany and remembered as you walk through this memorial.
Walking alone, between the 2700 columns made me consider the longevity of life. Some of us live a long time - maybe represented by the taller columns. Some have lives cut short. Their darkness darker and longer than we can imagine.
One side of the memorial ends at the Tiergarten. A beloved, green, densely forested park in the middle of the city. Both peaceful and beautiful, it provides an escape and refuge for city dwellers and tourists. It also provides a peaceful and beautiful frame to the stark grey of the memorial. The park provides a place to remember how wonderful life is or maybe the heavenly escape that the murdered Jews received from the terrors and torture they faced before their death. It is not without irony that the Tiergarten park was devastated by allied bombing in the war, its trees uprooted mid-growth, burnt and mutilated. Reborn to its former beauty, it is a symbol of how, when nurtured, nature can recover. Reshaping and healing slowly until the terrors of the past are hidden.
The park's recovery is a reminder as to why memorials are needed without them the past would be covered up and forgotten
Beneath the memorial is the Information Centre, which documents the crimes of the Nazi regime in themed rooms. The 800 square meters (0.49 square miles) houses personal documentation about individuals and families, biographical details, recordings and information about lives and memorial sites throughout Germany and Europe.
When you visit this amazing memorial and stumble through the uneven paths, take time to contemplate the misery and darkness endured by the murdered Jews. Below your feet, the carefully collected information strives to seek sense and chronicle the despicable past to try to prevent any future repeat. Take this knowledge and experience forward with you as you leave.
Don't forget to take a breath of fresh air as you arrive at the Tiergarten park's light and beauty. Turn the corner to return to the cosmopolitain hustle and bustle of Berlin, but return a little changed with the knowledge of how lucky you are and how important it is not to forget the past - that after all is the point of memorials and this memorial does that very well indeed.
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