The Politics of Remembrance

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is located near the Brandenburger Gate in central Berlin. It was built in May 2005 to commemorate the 6 million Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust. The aboveground section of the memorial consists of a field of stelae, giant concrete blocks, that are arranged in a disorienting manner. The display is meant to confuse and isolate visitors, mimicking emotions of the concentration camps. This section of the memorial is not clearly marked, and I witnessed many people sitting on the blocks, chatting and eating, with no regard for the purpose of the memorial. However, there is an underground section that is explicit and descriptive. It consisted of photos, first hand accounts, text descriptions, original documents, and video/audio components all depicting how the Nazis decimated the Jewish population of Europe and what the Jewish population actually looked like. The memorial gave detailed descriptions of families and individuals, forcing visitors to acknowledge the personal side of tragedy. Most memorials or museums give a few firsthand accounts and then generalize the Jewish experience during World War II.

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The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

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The memorial to the homosexuals persecuted under Nazism

Although no two tragedies can be compared, they can be treated similarly by the government. I also visited the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism, which is located in Tiergarten, directly across the street from the previously mentioned memorial. This memorial is also a giant concrete block, but it has a video screen sunk into the stone, visible through a glass window. The video screen simply showed a short clip on repeat of two young men kissing in a park. Although the webpage for the memorial claims that there is a signboard near the memorial that describes the persecution of homosexuals by the Nazis, I could not find one at the site. I did not even discover the name of the memorial until I searched online for more information, as the site itself had only given me the bare minimum. I was deeply saddened by the lack of care and respect put into the memorial to homosexuals, as they were also imprisoned in concentration camps, murdered, beaten, and persecuted. Also, the memorial was not constructed until 2008, 63 years after the end of World War II, and it was frequently vandalized that year. Obviously, the scale of tragedy does not compare to the suffering of 6 million Jews, but it still deserves to be properly acknowledged. The persecution of homosexuals and the rest of the LGBTQ+ community still occurs in many of the countries that participated in World War II, making these public memorials all the more important.

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Another view of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Complete Destruction

I have wanted to visit Auschwitz for years. That may seem a little strange, but I have been reading memoirs, fiction, and nonfiction books about the Holocaust for the past ten years. I have always found it fascinating and disturbing, and I have always wondered how the world could have let this terrible thing happen. As a young child, I was confused by the brutality. Justice and equality have always been important to me, so the rampant anti-semitism in Europe during World War II was, and still is, hard to wrap my head around. When I found out that this trip would give me the opportunity to see Auschwitz and maybe get some answers, I was excited but scared. Visiting a place where 1.1 million people brutally died is terrifying. When we finally arrived there, these feelings only intensified. There were school groups laughing, tour guides directing people, and places to get food. I was confused: Where was the Auschwitz that I had read about, the one I had pictured in my head and seen in movies? Then we entered the infamous gate, “work will make you free,” and the guided tour began. We walked the streets that the prisoners had walked, saw the jail cells where they were tortured, and saw the piles of stolen hair, glasses, and shoes. I was floored. I had known most of the information already and knew that these places existed, but seeing them in person was much different and very powerful. Then we went to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and I saw the train tracks and entrance that are shown in many movies. It was astounding and devastating as we walked through and saw the tiny train car in which at least sixty or more Jews were packed like sardines, and then we walked down the path towards the gas chambers, the same path that was walked by the Jews who did not “pass selection.” The Nazis destroyed the gas chambers at the end of the war in an effort to cover their tracks, but of course the world discovered the truth through the testimonies of survivors and documents and buildings that survived. We also saw barracks where prisoners were kept while waiting to be murdered in the gas chambers. They were forced to stay there for a few weeks without food and water because they were unable to work and therefore considered already dead. In these barracks, we saw graffiti done by uncaring and self-centered tourists. This made me incredibly angry because doing graffiti in a place where unjustly imprisoned people were starving to death is horrific, disgusting, and disrespectful.

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Auschwitz-Birkenau

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The barracks with the graffiti

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The train car

Visiting Auschwitz made me realize that Germany’s “Final Solution” was truly systematic and completely destructive. The Nazis were very good at killing thousands of people quickly and efficiently, and they were also good at destroying the human spirit. Our tour guide described the prisoners as walking skeletons, but I don’t think that was just in reference to food. In order to be a walking skeleton, there has to be no personality or spark of life left. The Nazis were successful at this method of complete destruction, but of course there were survivors. Of the 1.3 million people that were imprisoned at Auschwitz, 1.1 million were murdered.
This is a tragedy that could have been avoided, or at least lessened. Many countries made tragic mistakes before and during World War II, including France, Germany, and the U.S. The Vichy government in France deported thousands of Jews and completely collaborated with the Nazis, with the support of the majority of the French people. They liked the newly appointed leader of France, General Pètain, and anti-semitism was already an issue before the Germans took control. The German people were brainwashed by the Nazis for years before the Holocaust even began, so it is almost understandable how they embraced and encouraged anti-semitism. The United States refused to take as many refugees as was needed, perhaps because they didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, or because they refused to believe it. The U.S. government forced Jews to remain in Nazi occupied territory, where they were abused, robbed, deported, and killed. It is crucial that the world learns all they can from the Holocaust in order to prevent a similar atrocity from ever happening again.

Paris: As Seen By Me

When we first drove into Paris, I was disappointed. The city looked nothing like I had expected. The metro was old and confusing, and the streets were small and filled with perplexing traffic. I was surprised by the number of people that smoke in Europe, and especially Paris. I saw people of all ages, ethnicities, and classes smoking. During one dinner, I was sitting next to a man who was continuously blowing smoke onto my pizza, and it was not a pleasant experience. The smokers in Europe makes me wonder if they have the same level of anti-smoking education as schools do in the United States. I saw a lot of boarded up shops, homeless people, street vendors selling cheap and low quality wares, and some seemingly unsafe neighborhoods. Of course, these things exist in every major metropolitan area, but Paris is shown as a romantic city that is better than all other cities.

After the initial let down, I discovered the beauty of Paris. I saw things that I had dreamed of seeing for years: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and Pont Bir Hakiem (the bridge from Inception).

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The style of the French people is beautiful and sophisticated, as are their buildings and their use of poetry. The Eiffel Tower was all that I dreamed it would be, except that it was very geared towards tourists with multiple street vendors and long ticket lines. The Louvre was incredibly extensive, so much so that I could go there five times and discover something new and wonderful with each visit. Katie Holman, Kelly Pilarski and I walked around for hours and only saw the Italian and Spanish paintings, sculptures from assorted areas around the globe, Napoleon III’s apartments, and a few other small sections. The diversity of people at both of these popular sites was astonishing. There were tourists from all around the world, speaking different languages and some wearing their traditional dress, like saris and dashikis. However, even with all of the diversity, we ended up sitting next to a group of Ohio State students at the Eiffel Tower. The university was right when they said that there are OSU students and alumni all over the world.

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Everywhere I turned in Paris, there was a monument or plaque commemorating an event in French history. There was a memorial to an unknown soldier of World War I under l’Arc de Triumph that had an eternal flame and beautiful flowers. I saw multiple plaques on street corners in rememberance of resistance fighters who had been killed at that spot, not to mention the Memorial of the Deportation where I gave my site report. This memorial was in memory of everyone who was deported from France to Nazi concentration camps under the Vichy Regime, and it was located near Notre Dame.

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The memorial to the unknown soldier

Paris was a fascinating and unique city, but don’t be fooled by the media. You probably won’t find true love under the Eiffel Tower.

London-Government Edition

On our first official day in London, Katie Simmons, Beth Koch, and I visited the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. We went to the House of Commons first, where we heard the Secretary of State for Health answer questions about the state of prisons that house criminals with mental health issues. One of the main concerns raised was how the amount of prisoner abuse and attacks on guards have risen in the past few years. There are not enough guards to adequately care for and protect the number of prisoners currently in the system. Members of the House of Commons wanted to know how the Secretary would increase the number of guards and also retain experienced guards. He did not have many concrete answers, but he promised to produce a plan and some results in the near future. We also witnessed Lucy Powell and Nicky Morgan insult each other over education reform. Morgan, who is the Secretary of Education, introduced the second version of a plan that involved transitioning all schools to academies, within no certain time frame. The plan would also allow said academies to join together and form coalitions. Powell was against this plan because there was no definitive timeline, and because she viewed academization as harmful to schools and teachers. The war that ensued between them was entertaining and informative, and I do not believe that anything like that ever happens in Congress. The members of the House of Commons called each other “the honorable gentleman” or “the honorable lady,” all while vehemently disagreeing. There was also constant heckling, and the conversation was hardly ever free of cheers or boos.
The House of Lords was not nearly so interesting, as it was comprised of fewer people that day and most members present were of advanced age. However, there was a beautiful, ornate golden throne that is used by the Queen whenever she participates, and the room was decorated in magnificent red and had statues of knights high up on the walls. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in either location. We also went through light security when entering the building and were forced to check our purses before entering the two atriums. The level of security was comparable to attending a baseball game in the United States, which was surprising and shows how security heavy the U.S. is. It is important to understand how other countries’ governments work, and what some of the important issues are to the country. Perhaps our Congress could learn something from the free speech and retorts utilized in the House of Commons.

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Emily Grucza, and I am a sophomore history major and WGSST minor. I am passionate about history, and I am interning at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland this summer. I have been interested in World War II for as long as I can remember, so this study abroad trip is a dream come true. I am very excited to leave for Europe, although I am not ready yet. The country I am most excited to visit is Poland because my father’s family immigrated from Poland in the 1900’s, and because I am particularly interested in the Holocaust. I am going to Dublin before the official start of the trip, and I am going to Amsterdam afterwards where I plan on continuing the World War II theme by visiting the Anne Frank house. I am very thankful for this opportunity, and I look forward to learning more about World War II and bonding with the group!