One general observation I made while walking around the Caen Memorial museum was to consider how the atrocities could occur? I saw displays in London that included artifacts from the Holocaust but seeing the Caen Memorial Museum made a bigger impact on how I was thinking about World War II. The museum also made me think about how similar events have occurred again since World War II and are still occurring. The museum is dedicated to show the accurate history of World War II. Traveling to the German Cemetery gave me even more insight to the modern connections and interpretations. While in the visitors center, I read a quote that went along with the museum. The quote was by Willy Brandt and said, “A nation must be prepared to soberly review its history. Because only those who remember what happened yesterday also understand what is happening today and can grasp what could happen tomorrow.” I thought that was so fitting for my observations about modern events and comparing them to the history leading up and occurring during the War. This saying shows how countries act and behave differently after a conflict like a war. This is not a new behavior. The British and French did not want to go to war with Nazi Germany and decided to use the idea of appeasement to avoid another conflict in Europe. The US also used this strategy and isolation to avoid being involved in the war in Europe. The museum started by showing all of the aggression and laws Nazi Germany was able to pass without a challenge. Germany was even able to host the Olympics. The museum told visitors how Germany prepared for the Olympics by moving people who were detained out of view and cleaning up the streets to make a better interpretations for the audience. When visitors get to the bottom of the history leading up to World War II look back you can see how the walls changed with the displays. The beginning was very white and like regular walls. Then, the walls transition to a stone surface and this transition continues until the end of the spiraling ramp where at the end it is dark and the walls are rough rocks behind the information. The symbolism used by the museum showed how Germany was able to take the world down into a dark and evil place with the actions and ideas they were allowed for so long to pass and enforce.
I also thought that the interpretations of World War II have changed many times and were not always a true reflection of the events and history that occurred. This inaccurate account of history is also occurring with more modern wars too.
The US has declared the actions that ISIS has taken as acts of genocide. These acts include the removal of history. By removing non-Muslim art and sites from the face of the earth ISIS is trying to destroy history that is not supported by the ideas and interpretations of Islam that ISIS supports. ISIS is devoted to forming a caliphate for the Muslim religion. ISIS is also executing people for actions that they deem threatening. These acts of terrorism are similar to the actions I saw the museum include in Caen the Nazis took. The Nazis did not believe certain people and religions were worthy of life. After the war the denazification occurred were people tried to remove and forget about the Nazi era. I believe that comparing World War II to whatever the results are to the modern conflict with ISIS will be looked back on in a similar way I looked at the museum in Caen. People will wonder why the events that occurred were allowed to occur and for as long as they did. I strongly believe that action was needed by the allies to end the genocide and other actions the Nazis took and I believe that countries need to act against ISIS to stop the same events from occurring again. I believe America currently views war in the same way as after World War I. People do not like war, and that is a good thing that nations do not like to go to war. I believe the US does not want to become invested in another conflict in the Middle East and face the consequences and cost of war. This is perhaps because Americans are again not talking about what happened. Americans were not fully invested in the wars in the Middle East like the public was for World War II. The current world opinion on the Middle East is similar to the opinions that were shown in the Caen museum. Countries do not want to struggle and fight another war. Many civilians would not support another war because of the costs that go into it. Seeing the British, German, and American cemeteries in Normandy gave me a true insight into the human costs of war. The British cemetery giving me the most insight. At the British cemetery the graves are very personal. They include the serial number and rank of the soldiers. Under that is the soldiers name and date of death. The two most moving parts are the ages that the soldiers were when they died and a quote the families were able to have inscribed. The American and German cemeteries were huge cemeteries with lots of graves and the British cemetery was no exception. The main difference was the British cemetery did not make the soldiers seem like numbers. They made the graves have a personal touch and showed how that grave marks a human who was someone’s son, father, dad, or brother and that people knew them. The loss of life associated with war is another modern reason why countries do not receive the support for their military and why direct military actions are not being taken.
ISIS is destroying culture items and artifacts that have very great historical context on the bases that they are not Muslim. These action occurred and were shown in the museum leading up to World War II with book burnings and other acts to rewrite history. Who knows what future generations will think of our current state, but the evidence and proof that the destruction of culture and religions just to prove a certain race and religion are better is occurring again. And the countries that can stop these acts are once again hesitant to act because they have not reflected on their previous wars and outcomes.