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25 years of the Holocaust Memorial: “Living place”
View over the field of stelae of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe: The Bundestag approved the construction on 25 June 1999 after years of debate. Photo
© Carsten Koall/dpa
In the 1990s, there were endless debates about the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. Today, it attracts hordes of visitors. But it still has major problems.
25 years after the Bundestag resolution to erect the Holocaust Memorial in The associated foundation in Berlin has acknowledged the significance of the memorial site. “Despite all fears, the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe does not put an end to the National Socialist past,” explained foundation director Uwe Neumärker.
Rather, the field of stelae south of the Brandenburg Gate is a lively place of education and encounter. It commemorates the six million Jews murdered during the Nazi era and is also a warning for the present.
The Bundestag approved the construction of the memorial on June 25, 1999, after years of debate. The design by US architect Peter Eisenman for a rolling field of 2,700 concrete steles of varying heights was implemented. The opening took place in May 2005. The memorial attracts visitors in droves. However, many of the steles, made of a special concrete, are in need of repair and are showing cracks and damage.
#everynamecounts
On the occasion of the anniversary, the foundation pointed to the participation campaign for a “digital memorial” of the Arolsen Archives: Its holdings on victims and survivors of the Holocaust are to be digitized and made freely accessible under the keyword #everynamecounts.
Since the campaign began in 2020, more than six million documents have already been recorded, but there are a total of 30 million historical documents in the archive, it was said. On June 25, members of parliament and employees of the Bundestag want to symbolically participate in the archive work for a few hours. School classes and other volunteers are also invited.
The Arolsen Archives claim to be the world’s most comprehensive archive on victims and survivors of National Socialism. The institution was originally founded as a place to search for people who had lost contact during the Nazi era or during the chaos of the Second World War.