By: Madeline Diorio Following the Second World War Auschwitz-Birkenau soon became the universal symbol of the Holocaust where people from all over the world make the journey to Poland to pay respects to both the Jews and non-Jews whose lives were tragically lost there from 1941-1945. For years individuals have come to this location to […]
By: Kevin Kuzniczci From the mountains and foothills of the northwestern segment of the Czech Republic to the expansive metropolis of Berlin to the somber town of Oswiecim, the lands of east central Europe contain a vast history that, a few decades ago, experienced quite a great deal of strife. Prague and Sluknov, all within […]
By: Page Garbee Generally when something breaks or falls apart you’re left with two options: fix it or throw it out and replace it with some new and improved model. The same concept tends to apply to cities destroyed, whether by war, national disaster, or the simple toll of time. When faced with piles of […]
By: Samantha Avalos During my process of reflection on my experience in Berlin, and more specifically at the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, I was steered by my professors to the work of Irit Dekel, in particular her article, ““Ways of Looking: Observation and transformation at the Holocaust Memorial, Berlin.” It was only […]
By: Kevin Kuzniczci Throughout the semester abroad in Central Eastern Europe out of all the themes and concepts we grasped, the most noteworthy notions generally involved the conception of memory and how one can reflect on the past through various lenses; in essence, widespread memory is determined by how people approach and tackle past events. […]
By: Tory Russo This semester we’ve visited countless sites of memory and seen plenty of examples of commemoration including cemeteries, monuments and memorials. While there’s a clear difference between how people remember the dead and how governments remember the dead, I don’t agree that the divide is as clear as this quote makes it seem. […]
By Kelsey Klimara and Samantha Avalos While reflecting and discussing our three-day trip to Berlin, we realized that we had one thing in common: nothing struck us quite as much as our two visits to different sections of the Berlin wall. Although we had multiple guided tours and discussions, the existence and eventual fall of […]
By: Katelyn Olsen In a situation as tragic and unmatched as the Holocaust, how can the land of the perpetrators hope to move forward while acknowledging and accepting their roles in this tragedy? Walking through the streets of Berlin, this question seems to be ever present as you pass by pieces of the Berlin Wall […]
By: Tory Russo …Or rebuilt. In Berlin – a city physically divided for 28 years and socially, economically and politically divided for over 40 – the fall of the wall broke the barriers of communication enforced in the east by the Soviet regime and opened discussions of the past that were impossible under communism. Tearing […]
“Justin Bieber Hopes Anne Frank ‘would have been a Belieber.” “San Antonio Spurs’ Danny Green Provokes Outrage with ‘Holocaust Selfie.’” By: Page Garbee I see this collection of headlines from sources like CNN, The Guardian, and USA Today and think… is the behavior of these individuals, their obsession with self, really that shocking? In no […]