Commemorating the past is important because it can help different groups develop relationships and can even help form our beliefs and identities as individuals. One example of this is the attack on the twin towers in 2001. The memorials and public knowledge have influenced and shaped the way the whole world views safety on planes and at airports and helped fuel the belief that heightened levels of security should be present. Although this may be the case, some believe events such as the Holocaust should be forgiven and forgotten but I fear that these events would just get lost in history and we would remake these costly mistakes.
The Holocaust began in 1941 and continued until 1945 and became known as one of the biggest events in the 20th century. There are currently 121 holocaust memorials and museums all across the world, it is taught in schools and what Hitler and the Nazis did is known by most. But we’re not going to talk about the Holocaust itself, we are going to talk about how it’s been remembered and commemorated throughout the last 70 years.
It is important for people to remember pivotal times in history like the holocaust to fully understand how the world came to be how it is today and so we learn from history’s mistakes. It is also important to remember the people who suffered and commemorate their lives. We show great respect at these memorials and museums
Some memorials have gotten some backlash with different opinions about the effect of it. for example the Berlin memorial. The media has opposed opinions, for example, an article from the New Yorker argues that this memorial doesn’t represent the holocaust sufficiently. They argue that without the title, it would be impossible to know what the structure is meant to commemorate and the vagueness of the information is shocking as they don’t even provide the names of those who died in the Holocaust it doesn’t put blame on Hilter. It just says the Jews died. Also, without previous knowledge, the memorial poorly represents the Holocaust.
One modern memorial of the Holocaust is the movie ‘the boy in the striped pajamas’ which follows the tale of a German boy befriending a Jewish boy inside a concentration camp. This representation of the Holocaust is interesting as the writers needed to not only make an accurate and respectful version of this event but they also needed it to be interesting and entertaining so, it is very important for the writers to find that middle ground without misrepresenting the holocaust.
Why is it important to study the holocaust? The change and continuity over time are evident. We commemorate the Holocaust with more memorials and sites than our ancestors before us.
These memorials are so imperative to our society as it represents how this tragic event will be remembered for generations ahead of us. We see the Holocaust as a brutal attack on Jewish people across Europe. We see the way these Jews were treated at the concentration camps. How they were mass murdered by the millions. We know this only because of what we have been exposed to. What teachers have taught us in school, the stories we have heard and the studies we have done on our own. That is how we will remember, and commemorate the Holocaust.
