Friday photo - Children at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin
April 17, 2009 by admin
Just back from Berlin I’d like to share with you a photo from the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, which we visited while we were there. The thing I liked about the memorial was the way that children were interacting with it, dodging in between the dark concrete blocks, playing hide and seek or just finding a quiet place to play.
From the edge the memorial looks just like a sea of blocks, all in straight lines, but as you walk into the centre, you find that the ground drops downwards, and the blocks become taller, so that they loom menacingly over your head. The ground undulates in an unsettling way and you can walk through to the other side until you emerge again with relief and can see the world around you again. But most children didn’t seem to feel the darker side - they were just having fun.
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It reminded me of a formal topiary garden where you can slip in between the dark cypress in a game of now you see me, now you don’t. I also saw many teenagers climbing on top of the blocks to jump from one to the other and get a good view. Some people might find this disrespectful, as if you are jumping on the graves of all the Jews who died in the Holocaust. I felt that it was a sign that the memorial was engaging the imagination of the visitor, reaching out to them on different levels, the emotional as well as the intellectual.
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What do you think - should we be respectful or playful in a place that commemorates such a dark part of humanity’s history?
Holocaust Memorial , Stresemannstrasse 90 10963 Kreuzberg, Berlin Nearest Station; Potsdamer Platz, Free to visit.
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globalgal on Fri, 17th Apr 2009 8:13 am
For me it is comforting to know that life can go on after such horrors, so by all means, let the children play! I’m intrigued by the design of this memorial. I’d like to see it in person.
marina k. villatoro on Fri, 17th Apr 2009 5:22 pm
there is really no respectful way for playing. however, in the jewish religion they are very focused on life must go on. so, playing in a memorial i think is very respectful! besides, look at dachua, they built a freakin’ mcdonalds near by. that’s not respectable anywhere.
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Mark (TravelWonders) on Fri, 17th Apr 2009 10:11 pm
Surely the play is fine and symbolic of life itself - the children are certainly not treating the monument with any sense of disrespect. I haven’t seen teh memorial or museum but those who have been there only have the strongest praise of the efforts of those involved.
Dominique on Fri, 17th Apr 2009 11:26 pm
I think it’s fine that people of different ages can appreciate and enjoy the memorial in their own way. As long as the play isn’t destructive, I don’t see the harm.
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Lorraine on Thu, 23rd Apr 2009 5:53 am
It’s a good question. I have kids, so I have a perspective that supports play. But in the event there is an audience there with personal history connected to the monument, I’d take that into consideration. The photographs are wonderful!
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