Stories in Grids: Germanys Holocaust Memorial, Other Memorials, and Emmaly Reed - Article Example

 Stories in Grids: Germany’s Holocaust Memorial, Other Memorials, and Emmaly ReedPeter Eisenman’s Germany’s Holocaust Memorial is a maze of meanings. Its 2,711 concrete slabs in a grid pattern can have multiple, conflicting meanings. On the one hand, it may be saying that the Holocaust is one side of many stories. The story of Emmaly Reed, for instance, sounds too incredible, with a nail being put into her head. Germany's Holocaust Memorial may be saying that Reed and the rest of the Holocaust victims are only creating stories to form a grid that does not hold a shred of truth.

On the other hand, Germany's Holocaust Memorial may also be seen as a form of recognition, if not full acceptance, of the wrongs of the past. Its immense size may also mean that Germany sincerely wants to remember the Holocaust. However, the Ort does not seem to be a good idea. Putting it underground is like undermining the stories of the dead. In addition, the title “murdered Jews of Europe” is inadequate because it excludes other groups who were also oppressed and killed during the time of the Holocaust.

It should just be titled “for all who suffered.”The small sizes of the memorials for gypsies and lesbians/gays, on the contrary, suggest that these groups are still unimportant to modern German society. Moreover, with a holocaust museum in Washington DC, I believe that we have no national monument for the victims of slavery and genocide in this country because the government does not want to emphasize its history of inhumanity.