Thanks to Simon Schama for this important rethinking of the Holocaust in NYR of Books:
Auschwitz as symbol of the Holocaust excludes those who were at the center of the historical event. The largest group of Holocaust victims—religiously Orthodox and Yiddish-speaking Jews of Poland, or, in the slightly contemptuous German term, Ostjuden —were culturally alien from West Europeans, including West European Jews. To some degree, they continue to be marginalized from the memory of the Holocaust. The death facility Auschwitz-Birkenau was constructed on territories that are today in Poland, although at the time they were part of the German Reich. Auschwitz is thus associated with today’s Poland by anyone who visits, yet relatively few Polish Jews and almost no Soviet Jews died there. The two largest groups of victims are nearly missing from the memorial symbol.
A much-reoccuring argument for multilateral orgs and the role diplomacy plays in stemming conflict derives at least some of its moral authority from the Holocaust and other holocausts/genocides. It is important to keep remembering, especially as Americans reflect on the expansive freedoms we enjoy in this incredible country.
2 responses so far ↓
nsumbot // September 22, 2009 at 6:16 pm |
I kind of get the impression that we are overreacting a little. Auschwitz is a universal monument that stands in solemn honor for those who suffered and died for the things they believed it. This memorial symbol is the pinnacle of sacrifice, and thus should not be excluded for one particular group. I believe that the purpose that it serves as a monument encompasses the Orthodox and Yiddish-speaking Jews, as well as all the others who died around the world. It isn’t the building that brings reverence to the sacrifice, but the sacrifice that brings reverence to the building. I see no problem in having a universal monument to represent almost universal suffering.
nsumbot // September 22, 2009 at 6:18 pm |
I kind of get the impression that we are overreacting a little. Auschwitz is a universal monument that stands in solemn honor for those who suffered and died for the things they believed it. This memorial symbol represents the sacrifice, and thus should not be excluded for one particular group. I believe that the purpose that it serves as a monument encompasses the Orthodox and Yiddish-speaking Jews, as well as all the others who died around the world. It isn’t the building that brings reverence to the sacrifice, but the sacrifice that brings reverence to the building. I see no problem in having a universal monument to represent almost universal suffering.
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