Desecrated Graves: Tombstones and Selfies
By Aren Burnside
When examining history, there is often a…
The Contrast Between Life and Death
By Kristen Varganova
As we’ve traveled from one country…
Memory Culture, in Three Parts
By Abbey Metzler
One.
I had been in Poland for just…
More than a Statistic: Memorializing Jewish Victims of the Holocaust as Individuals Rather than a Number
By Clare Toner
As I entered Auschwitz for the first time,…
Observations from German History Studies
By Edward You
During my stay in Berlin, the experience…
The Children of Atrocities
By Anthony Russo
Before coming to Europe and seeing all the…
Auschwitz-Birkenau: Working in Secret
By Kyra McDermott
In today’s recounting of history, Auschwitz-Birkenau…
Suffering for Freedom: Socialist Realism in Memorialization
By Taylor Krzeminski
“Herein lies the strength of the Red…
Who’s Watching?
By Sarah McLafferty
One of the most characteristic aspects…
Rethinking Remembrance
By Rody Conway
The 20th century was a century of unprecedented…
What Constitutes a Good Museum?
By Ciera Moore
Since coming to Central Europe, we…
This History Is (Not) For You
By Aren Burnside
Monuments, memorials, and museums all attempt…
The Birth of an Idea
By Raymundo Juarez
At 6:00, on a Saturday morning, my alarm…
Nations as Extended Family
By Autumn McMillan
I’ve been to five countries in the last…
The Political Power of Victimhood and Guilt
By Jay Skelton
Everyone has been a victim of something, of…
In the Public Eye: Budapest Monuments and the Idea of Victimhood
By Mia White
Budapest is known for its many gorgeous and unique…
The Roma Are People Too
By Clare Toner
Part of what drew me to the Central Europe…
Let History Speak for Itself
By Kyra McDermott
In every corner of the world, monuments…
Anachronistic Architecture
By Rody Conway
Can a city be out-of-place? Vienna and Budapest,…
Overshadowing Holocaust Remembrance in Central Europe
By Taylor Krzeminski
In Central Europe, memorialization of…
Places of Worship Commercialized
By Anthony Russo
During all of our travels the one thing I was…
Children of The Diaspora
By Hanz Valbuena
“Asgard is not a place, it’s a people.”…
Reformers, Protesters, and Dissidents in a Communist Czechoslovakia
By Alexander Wilgocki
Depending on your age, it may be difficult…
Memorialization Through Romafuturism
By Tayla Myree
“We need a Malcolm X,” said Ladislava Gaziova,…
Looking at Central Europe Through Its Synagogues
By Ciera Moore
The influence of Jewish culture and religion…
Hammer and Sickle; Canvas and Brush
By Abbey Metzler
Let me tell you a story.
The year is…
Is There a Common Memory Between Europe and China?
By Edward You
The year of 2018 marks the 5th anniversary of…
Protesting a Memorial with Another Memorial: How Hungary Remembers Its Role in the Holocaust
By Meredith Conway
How can we accurately and fairly recount…
What Makes a Nation a Victim?
By Sarah McLafferty
There are certain elements of European…
Painful Prague
By Kristen Varganova
Although all the countries we visited…
A History of Anti-Ukrainian Sentiment in Poland
By Timothy Li
Although I have not personally attended the…
The Macedonian Crisis: A Tale of a Confused Nation
By Timothy Li
When people hear about the name Macedonia, usually…
Irredentism in Orban’s Hungary
By Timothy Li
One of the most memorable moments that I had…
Lviv
By Ivan Laryionenka
Lviv is one of those places that rarely…
The Rhetoric of Patriotism & Nationalism
By Diego Franco
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism…
Viewing the Past from the Present
By Leah Killian
Berlin is filled with many monuments and statues.…
Train World
By Kaitlin Kurdziel
When I was little, trains had always been…
Losing Memories
By Kaitlin Kurdziel
My visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau brought…
Things to Think About While Interacting with Memorials
By Deborah Sue-Ho
Earlier in the semester, it made me livid…
The Destruction and Reconstruction of Warsaw
By Gabrielle Marzolf
Within the Jewish community, it is a…
The Mark of Partitions on Polish Identity
By Gabrielle Marzolf
It is impossible to discuss the issue…
Complex Memory in Berlin
By Bryan Alicea
In the 1932 German federal elections, Adolf…
Rebuilding Berlin’s Identity
By Caroline Bartholomew
Berlin was founded in the thirteenth…
A Memorial to the Soviets, Not to Their Victims
By Cate Ferson
As Stalin and the Red Army made their victorious…
Skirting the Line
By Cynthia Wang
We took it upon ourselves to go to Lviv as…
Football Hooligans And Their Role In Polish Politics
Written by Ivan Laryionenka
Loud, radical, passionate and…
Did Poland and Hungary Lose Their EU Pride?
Written by Ivan Laryionenka
A strong, prosperous and proud…
Resilience
Written By Deborah Sue-Ho
As I walked past barracks where…
Wawel Castle: An Enduring Symbol of Polish Identity
Written By Caroline Bartholomew
Throughout its long and tumultuous…
Baby Killers
Written by Cynthia Wang
What could I possibly hope to tell…
Ignoring the Memory of Auschwitz
By Cate Ferson
While looking through the calendar for this…
The Communist Terror in Hungary
By Bryan Alicea
During the Second World War, Hungary was allied…
A Monumental Dilemma – What To Do with Confederate Identity in America
By Diego Franco
“Monuments are the grappling irons that…
Auschwitz: Graveyard or Media Platform
By Leah Killian
When visiting places like Auschwitz-Birkenau…
The Soviet Cover-up of Jewish Identity
By Leah Killian
Jewish Identity in Central and Eastern Europe…
Handling Memory through Public Memorials
By Deborah Sue-Ho
As Central European countries attempt to…
The Lety Camp
Identity Without Representation: The Romani in Central Europe
By Gabrielle Marzolf
Most of the conflicts that caused and…
Remembering the Holocaust in Budapest
By Bryan Alicea
Between 1941 and 1945, one of the most horrific…
Budapest’s Memento Park: An example for America?
By Caroline Bartholomew
There is more to a monument than it’s…
How to Close Your Borders
By Cate Ferson
In the wake of the 2016 election, tensions…
Central Europe through a Cake Lens
By Cynthia Wang
Fourteen days is a long time to be constantly…
Decoding a Yard Full of Graves
My Work in the Service Learning Project and Why it’s Such a Meaningful Opportunity
By Eric Weisansal
Many of the historical sites we have visited…
A Road to Reconstruction
By Rachel Watson
The New Jewish Cemetery on Lotnicza Street…
Memories Forgotten
By Samantha Schantz
Robert Kennedy once said, “There are…
Experiencing the Berlin Wall Up Close
By Jeremy Covone
The Berlin Wall was only a vague image and…
Preserving a Forgotten Past
By Stella Van Ness
The city of Wroclaw, Poland has a lengthy…
The Rise Of Dark Tourism
By Jonalynn Lao
There is no doubt that the tourism industry…
Eyes That Are Always Watching
By Maddie Petherick
During the era of the German Democratic…
Gleis 17: The Site of Deportation
By Emily Nestler
The purpose of observing and studying the…
The Impact of Auschwitz
By Emily Nestler
The devastating story and journey of the…
Remnants of a Complicated History
By Abigail Thaine
The city of Wroclaw has a long and complex…
Experiencing the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial
By Dustin Ducey
In the prior days before visiting the Auschwitz…
Restoring the History of the New Jewish Cemetery in Wroclaw
The Invisible Cemeteries
By Emilie Bouchard
Cemeteries have always been interesting…
The Significance of Cemeteries: A Service Learning Experience
By Spencer Cottman
When dealing with the passing…
The Soviet War Memorial
By Stella Van Ness
The Soviet War Memorial in Berlin, Germany…
Monumental Progress: Memorials as a Part of Collective Memory
By Spencer Cottman
Collective memory is an important part…
Places of Awareness
Broken beyond repair
By Rachel Watson
An experience that was particularly breathtaking…
Trying to Walk in Their Shoes
By Maddie Petherick
Gleis 17 is the platform in West Berlin…
A Wall Without Borders
By Jonalynn C. Lao
The gorgeous city of Berlin; is home to…
One Path Leads to Another and Another
By Erin Harrison
As I stood on the platforms of Grunewald…
The Rise of Totalitarianism: East Berlin Through the Lens of George Orwell’s 1984
By Eric Weisansal
I never quite understood why most of all…
The Invisible Memorial
By Emilie Bouchard
As a child, whenever I visited a memorial…
The Feeling of the Holocaust
By Abigail Thaine
Time after time it has been said that seeing…
Unintentional Erasure: Changing Monuments to Match New Historical Interpretation
By Brigitta Pupillo
I have mentioned before in my previous…
I Am Still Here
By Ali Dunbar
This morning I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to see who…
A Major Identity Crisis
By Rosa Beyk
Nelson Mandela once said, “No one is born hating…
Identity Challenges of Women in Resistance
By Lindsay Zerfas
Resistance to the Nazi regime took many…
Dwelling in Countermemorials
Justifying Memorials
The Two Visible Minorities in Prague: A Social Discourse of “Othering”
By Ali Dunbar
Prague is one of the most popular tourist destinations…
Dwelling in Places of Violent Memory
The Imperfect quest for a “Perfect” Memorial
By Lindsay Zerfas
“We would like to know how you would generate…
German Memorials: Respect, Education and Reconciliation
By Brigitta Pupillo
From the start of our trip in Central…
Reconciling National Narratives and Commemoration: Voices Still Waiting to Be Heard
Remembrance through Knowledge
Poland’s 1968 Anti-Semitic Campaign: Why Historical Dialogue is Important
By Brigitta Pupillo
When I first arrived in Central Europe…
Spaces of Lost Memory
By Charlotte Oestrich
Every country has a past, as does each…
Exploring the Concept of Stories in Central Europe
By Lindsay Zerfas
Stories are an integral part of many children’s…
Auschwitz: The Challenge of Remembering
By Arielle Pressman
Today, the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau…
The Warsaw Ghetto Maccabee
By Arielle Pressman
Hanukkah 2015 has made it here, and like…
History Repeats Itself
By Domenica Vera
Berlin, the capital of Germany, is home to…
Putting a Face to a Name
By Domenica Vera
I have been asked many times why I have decided…
Forget-me-not
By Katherine Vargas
Walking through the red and orange…
Heaven is a Place on Earth
By Katherine Vargas
We disembarked our bus at a commercial…
“Hier Wohnte”
By Renata Husted
They used to live here. In this four-leveled…
Aktion T4
By Monica Pellerano
I remember writing: writing lines, writing…
70 Years, 9 Months, and 20 Days
By Renata Husted
It has been 70 years, 9 months, and 20 days…
Are We Actually Seeing?
Erin Kenney
Being in Berlin, a significantly historical city…
Self-Hating Jewess Writes Pro-Palestine Article for Urban Labs Central Europe
By Farrell Brenner
Three months ago, I stood ankle-deep…
The Berlin Wall: A Symbol of Oppression
By Marcin Zak
The Berlin Wall is a testament…
The Creation of a National Identity through Militarization
By Monica Pellerano
Military Museums have so often been…
My Big Fat Gyspy Wedding or My Big Fat False Portrayal?
By Erin Kenney
Several months ago, if someone asked me…
Auschwitz-Birkenau: Grappling with the Unspeakable
By Marcin Zak
To visit the old Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration…
I won’t write about Auschwitz.
By Farrell Greenwald Brenner
Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang…
How do we measure depravity: In meters? In feet?
By Monica Pellerano
You know how some of the most beautiful…
Kriesi test
Creating Identity Through Dialogue
By Domenica V. Vera
If there were any place I would choose…
The Vanishing Footsteps of a People’s History
By Katherine Vargas
Coming into this program, I knew little…
From Water Parks to Wake Up Calls
By Renata Husted
Type in the phrase “Vilnius Nightlife”…
One History, Two Narratives
By Erin Martha Kenney
During our travels in Lithuania and…
A New Light Shines for the Memory of Jewish Poland
By Arielle Pressman
When I first told my mother I wanted…
We don’t discuss the echoes
By Farrell Brenner
As a patrilineal Jew and a student…
Warsaw is Rising
By Marcin Zak
In a perfect world, it would be difficult to…
The East Side Gallery: Forum and Monument
By Michael Kosowski
To recall the first time that I, to use…
Memorials, Remembrances, and their Interpretations
By Megan Gorenflo
Berlin is a large and well-known city in…
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe: Adequate Enough?
By Meagan Edwards
In the heart of Berlin there lies a monument.…
Field of Stelae
By Kylie Britt
A memorial is a structure that creates a place…
Do No Harm
By Kaylee De Zalia
More than seventy years after the Holocaust,…
Inappropriate Memorials: Berlin’s Failure
By Katie Thomas
Memorials are used as tools with which the…
The Hidden Truth inside East Berlin
By Jackie Myers
At the end of World War II, Germany was split…
Memorials and Memory
By Elon Clarke
Day after day on this trip, the other students…
Poland’s Elections: A Grim Future?
By Michael Kosowski
My face was pressed against the glass…
Memories, Reflections and the Holocaust
By Megan Gorenflo
When I was thirteen, I traveled with a school…
Auschwitz: An Experience and Lesson No One Should Ever Forget
By Meagan Edwards
Shortly after the end of the Second World…
A Visit to Auschwitz
By Kylie Britt
As a student learning about the Holocaust,…
Shadows of a Hidden Past
By Kaylee De Zalia
At first glance, the Galicia Jewish Museum…
Appalling Auschwitz: Confronting the Past
By Katie Thomas
Recently, we have been discussing the differences…
Centennial Hall, Hope from the Past, a quiet message for the Future
By Elon Clarke
Begun as a space for the general public of…
Inside the Barbed Wire Fences: Auschwitz and Birkenau
By Jacquelyn Myers
From around the world people have come…
The Holocaust, in general
By: Kara McGrane
The Holocaust was a specific, disquieting…
The Lack of Discourse between Monuments and People
By: Kara McGrane
In most cases, a memorial is erected to commemorate…
Marble made Monument
By: Megan Newell
The comfortable little gem of a city known…
Stalin and Hitler as Statisticians
By: Megan Newell
While walking the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau,…
Leaving Space for Memory
By: Jake “Andy” Fabrizio
Historical injustices do not…
A Museum of Memory
By: Jake “Andy” Fabrizio
In the days leading up to our…
“Colossal Cement”
By: Madeline Diorio
Three months after walking around foreign…
BLOCK 27: IDEOLOGY KILLS
By: Madeline Diorio
Following the Second World War Auschwitz-Birkenau…
Relations Between Peoples of a Troubled East Central Europe
By: Kevin Kuzniczci
From the mountains and foothills of the…
The Reconstruction of Relations
By: Page Garbee
Generally when something breaks or falls…
The Holocaust Memorial: An Individually Unique Experience
By: Samantha Avalos
During my process of reflection on my…
Contemplation of Themes Concerning Identities
By: Kevin Kuzniczci
Throughout the semester abroad in Central…
“Commemorating the dead is part of human culture. Commemorating the fallen is … part of political culture.” War and Suffering Exhibit at the Military Museum in Dresden, Germany
By: Tory Russo
This semester we’ve visited countless sites…
Reflections on the Remains of the Wall
By Kelsey Klimara and Samantha Avalos
While reflecting and…
The Weight of Memory
By: Katelyn Olsen
In a situation as tragic and unmatched as…
“Memories are built as a city is built.” – Umberto Eco
By: Tory Russo
...Or rebuilt. In Berlin - a city physically…
“Auschwitz Selfie Girl Defends Actions.”,
“Justin Bieber Hopes Anne Frank ‘would have been a Belieber.”…
Reconciliation and Reconstruction in the 21st Century
By: Katelyn Olsen
When working with the memory and reconciliation…
Unexpected Connections to the Past
By: Kelsey Klimara
I could probably reflect on my trip to…
Paneriai Forest: Laid to Rest
By: Madeline Diorio
It is like an old story heard throughout…
Preserving the Lost Identity through Memory: The Jewish Victims in the Borderlands
By: Kara McGrane
When visiting city after city, museum after…
Beyond the Tears, Trees and Turmoil; the Road to Reconciliation
By Megan Newell
Our two and a half week travel seminar through…
The Axis of Fear In Historical Tragedy
By: Jacob Steckel
It is a strange phenomenon that, when facing…
Absence of Community, Absence of Memory
By: Page Garbee
Dilapidation consumes the town of Krynki.…
Experiences Within the Former Grand Duchy of Poland-Lithuania
By: Kevin Kuzniczci
From the time I had appeared at the…
Moving Away from Indifference: The Hidden Past of Vilnius, Lithuania
By Kelsey Klimara
After traveling for 20 days and to seven…
“It’s impossible to imagine…”
By: Tory Russo
For me, the easiest way to understand is through…
Ponary Forest Massacre
By: Jake “Andy” Fabrizio
Imagine the shock and outrage…
The Borderlands Foundation and the Town of Sejny
By: Samantha Avalos
Our two-week intensive travelling seminar…
Remnants of the Past
By: Katelyn Olsen
Perhaps one of the saddest sights to see…
The Berlin Wall
On our excursion to Berlin, Germany, the Berlin Wall memorial…
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall served as a barrier between East and West…
The Roma and Sinti Memorial
Tucked away, hidden, unimposing, quaint; these are words that…
The Polish Soldiers’ Monument
Within the first week of being in Wroclaw, we climbed a hill…
Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism
Often times, when the word “Holocaust” is mentioned we only…
Kazimierz
Kazimierz, a district of Poland’s southern city of Krakow,…
The New Jewish Cemetery in Wroclaw
Wroclaw’s New Jewish Cemetery was founded in 1902 when…
Institute of National Remembrance
The years of 1944-1945 are often falsely believed to be the beginning…
Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime
Background on Our Visit to the Memorial
by Arielle Ingrassia
A…
The Church of Peace
Not far from Wrocław, in the small town of Świdnica, stands…
Centennial Hall
The music rebounded through the historic setting; it was almost…
Auschwitz
For many people around the world with the most basic understanding…