One of the things that fascinated me during my recent trip to Berlin was the manner in which Germans chooses to remember its Nazi past. In many nations there would be a marked effort to forget and to move on. Mind you, how to you forget a 13 year period during which your country plunged the world into a war killing some 50,000,000 people . . . and then there were the additional estimated 12,ooo,ooo victims of Nazi purification, terror, and retribution.
It would be a challenge to ignore that.
Through the various walking tours I experienced while in Berlin I got a better sense of how Germany was trying to remember to ensure that mankind learns from this dark period. At the same time, the country was actively working to create no memorials or inadvertent monuments to the Nazis and their leaders themselves which might become a rallying point for fringe elements in society.
Chris, our guide for the Topography of Terror walking tour, had an interesting perspective. Growing up in East Germany she was taught that WWII was a troubled period but that there was some glory to be found in the darkness. We were a bit shocked at that suggestion until she told us that the East Germany leadership predominantly came from the resistance to the Nazis - the heroes were those who fought Hitler and actively worked to undermine the war and extermination effort. In school they learned the stories of these remarkable heroes in addition to the darkness of war.
She then went on to talk about the year after the reunification of the country. East Germany no longer existed. The entire school curriculum was pretty much tossed out. For awhile there was no history taught at all because the teachers didn't know what was to be taught in the new Germany. When the new textbooks arrived things were very different - gone were the heroes that had been discussed previously. Instead there was a profound sense of guilt that permeated any discussion of the period from 1933 -1945.
I suspect that this continues today- particularly as those who were children during this period and may have witnessed the atrocities die out.
So Germany quietly remembers. There are memorials to the victims of Nazi terror - political opponents, Jews, the Sinti and Roma, and the homosexuals. A memorial to the disabled Germans who were murdered by the Nazis is in the works. You will find monuments to those who opposed Hitler. Significant events in Hitler rise to power are also commemorated.
The Topography of Terror museum is a big part of this remembering the dark past. This museum reminds us of how the Nazis used terror to manipulate, control, and intimidate people. It also looked at how these strategies were then 'exported' throughout Europe as Nazi control expanded.
I was struck by this photo that was on display:
In that sea of humanity there is one lone man who stands defiant, arms crossed refusing to cheer and salute.
I hope that if history ever repeats itself this focus on remembering a dark past would mean that more than one person would stand defiant!
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