Issues of Remembrance

Wednesday, August 25

Class discussion today was about our experiences at Mauthhausen and the issue of remembrance and memory that we read about in Ruth Kluger’s memoir Still Alive.  For me, it is difficult to return to Vienna from the camp and think that only two generations ago, the Holocaust was committed, that I am in a country where almost everyone of my grandparents generation was a Nazi.  Further, that people the same age as my parents were raised by former Nazis, and that those the same age as myself are the grandchildren of Nazis.  While I understand that not everyone supported or participated with the Nazis, they still lived during this time and most often stood by.  It is just so hard for me to comprehend how this could happen.  Visiting the camp yesterday was like visiting the true face of evil.  

Kluger who survived the Holocaust, holds the view that the camps should not be preserved as memorials because instead of preserving the memory of the victims, it glorifies the atrocities.  

I prefer Simon Wiesenthal’s view on the issue of remembrance and memorials.  He too survived the Holocaust and made it his life’s work to hunt down the perpetrators of the Holocaust.  For this he was both admired and hated.  His work was highly unpopular in Austria and attempts were even made on his life and that of his family.  His daughter grew up going to school with a police escort all because her father wanted justice to be served.  Those Austrians (the majority) that were against him wanted the memory of the war put behind them.  Instead of blaming themselves for allowing their country to commit such atrocities, they instead wanted the blame the victim for seeking justice.  The war never ended for Wiesenthal.  

I believe it is truly important to remember and build and maintain memorials.  How else can we learn from the past?  How else can we strive to make sure that his never happens again?