Entries by Ula Klobuszewska

Things to Think About While Interacting with Memorials

By Deborah Sue-Ho Earlier in the semester, it made me livid that all we know about the Jewish, Romani, homosexual, Polish, Hungarian, Austrian, Soviet, German, Czechoslovakian people who died during the Holocaust and World War II were these categories ascribed by society. Their names, professions, hobbies, customs, personal stories can hardly be found. Everything we […]

The Destruction and Reconstruction of Warsaw

By Gabrielle Marzolf Within the Jewish community, it is a practice of remembrance to leave a stone or stack of stones on the grave of a loved one. There is no exact origin and reasoning behind this tradition, but one superstition is that the piles of stones keep the souls of the deceased in the […]

The Mark of Partitions on Polish Identity

By Gabrielle Marzolf It is impossible to discuss the issue of Polish identity without referencing the fact that between the years of 1795 and 1918, Poland ceased to exist on the world map. This was the end result of three partitions enacted by Prussia, Russia, and the Habsburg Empire. The erasure of a European country […]

Complex Memory in Berlin

By Bryan Alicea In the 1932 German federal elections, Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist party, or the Nazi party, emerged as the largest political party in Germany, and Hitler was eventually appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933. While in power, the Nazis enacted discriminatory laws and edicts that shaped the political atmosphere in Germany. Minorities in […]

Rebuilding Berlin’s Identity

By Caroline Bartholomew Berlin was founded in the thirteenth century, but you might never guess that from the way it looks today. Instead of walking along small, winding streets with half-timbered houses, you encounter a grid-like layout with modern buildings. I knew that Berlin had been almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing during World War […]

A Memorial to the Soviets, Not to Their Victims

By Cate Ferson As Stalin and the Red Army made their victorious sweep through Central and Eastern Europe, finally ending the age of Hitler, heroes they had seemingly become. As the period of communism flourished over the coming decades, grandiose monuments of Lenin, Stalin, and the soldiers that liberated the victims of World War II […]

Skirting the Line

By Cynthia Wang We took it upon ourselves to go to Lviv as frugally as possible, so we bypassed the plane, the train, and even the bus. Instead, we drove both ways in two different cars with two different sets of strangers- courtesy of a certain French ridesharing platform called Blablacar. That is a story […]

Identity Without Representation: The Romani in Central Europe

By Gabrielle Marzolf Most of the conflicts that caused and progressed the Second World War were fueled by an intense and inherent sense of nationalism. Today, remnants of this nationalism can be found in Central Europe. Countries like Hungary and Poland have physical symbols of their national pride and past injuries. The flag of Transylvania […]

Remembering the Holocaust in Budapest

By Bryan Alicea Between 1941 and 1945, one of the most horrific events in human history took place. Known as the Holocaust, or “Shoah,” it claimed the lives of millions across Europe. Although the exact figures of the death toll are unknown, it is approximated that about 12 million people[1] were killed by the Nazi […]

Budapest’s Memento Park: An example for America?

By Caroline Bartholomew There is more to a monument than it’s physical presence — there is also the story behind who put it there and why. While these details are often overlooked, they are a crucial part of understanding the bigger picture and meaning of the monument. Two examples of how countries today are dealing […]