Homework Question on Holocaust Memorial in Berlin
- Your reaction must be 250 words in length, typed and double-spaced.
- Make sure you answer all of the following questions:]
- Compare this memorial with those established more recently for the Roma/Sinti (Gypsies ) and the lesbians/gay. These are also found in Berlin but are on a much more modest scale. You’ll need to check the internet for information.
- Do you think that “ORT” (underground place of information) is a good idea?
- Officially, the memorial is for six million “murdered jews of Europe”, wouldn’t that exclude jews who died of age and disease? What would be a better title for the memorial?
- The Auschwitz death toll was originally set around four million. About 25 years ago, this figure was revised downward to about 1.1 million. Why is there no corresponding reduction in the overall figure of six million?
Homework Answer on Holocaust Memorial in Berlin
A comparison is that the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin only commemorates the Jewish victims of the Holocaust whereas those established more recently for the Roma/Sinti and the lesbians and gays commemorate other groups that are identifiable, which were also considered as victims of the Nazis.The underground place of information is a good idea, and this is in line with the primary function of a memorial, which is to remind people of past events.
Thus, the underground place of information plays an integral role in achieving this objective as it contains a layout of the history of the Final Solution and personal aspects of the Holocaust tragedy. Also, its focus is one the fates of the Jewish families that were affected by the tragedy and its significance is also evident in the fact that the names of Jewish Holocaust victims are available.
The memorial’s construction was purposefully for the six million murdered Jews if Europe. This means that the Jews who died of age and diseases across Europe are excluded. Therefore, a better title for the memorial would be ‘Holocaust Memorial’ and this is because it specifies that the death of the Jews was a result of Holocaust tragedy and not of age and diseases.It is notable that the Auschwitz death toll was originally set around four million although this figure was later revised downward to about 1.1 million.