The Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem Israel
Day 1: Reconnecting with my Jewish Heritage
The Holocaust to the public eye is explored as the corpus massacre of over six million Jewish people as well as millions of people who didn't fit under Hitlers standards. History shows that the killings of the Jewish people took place in Europe between the early 1930s through to mid 1940s, these killings were said to have been organised by the German Nazi party as led by Adolf Hitler.
The memories that have been adopted from visiting the Holocaust memorial in Berlin previously, heightened the expectations for Yad Vashem (Holocaust memorial in Israel) due to the in depth symbolisation of the architectural work that was involved in creating it. Through memory and archived images the ideas and feelings that were present when visiting the memorial were recollected. I recently read a book by Karen Till, which studies Germany through the practices of place making. It further discovered the notions associated with social memory and personal emotions through defining social relation to the past historical movements. Till goes onto discuss the concepts of public memory and the emotions provided with historical sites and memorials, which represent public memory within a society, this reflected the ideas associated with the Holocaust and the feelings one senses when visiting.
The Holocaust memorial signifies the idea of public memory, as the monument displays the past in the present marking social space as a place of memory. The media mediates ones knowledge of a national significant place such as Holocaust memorials and other memorial sites, which hold sentimental value. The Berlin Holocaust memorial site looks like a concrete graveyard from afar with approximately 2500 solid grey caskets all lined up perfectly in rows above ground. This interactive memorial creates an optical illusion as you walk through and each coffin expresses different emotions as they become tall and overwhelming.
It is through reminiscence and archival images that trigger memory, which allows one to create a strong sentimental value to something. Memory can be triggered through seeing something that had been read about or told about. Emotions are running throughout with anticipation of what thoughts and processes the Holocaust may aluminate. Through a recollection of memories and others interpretations, when thinking about Yad Vashem and the feelings and experience of visiting the memorial reflects memories of the time and provides a sense of worry however, simultaneously provides warmth and place.
The Holocaust holds sentimental value to me as my family were involved in the massacre leaving me with a personal connection with what happened, my grandfathers grandparents were killed in this horrible disruption. My grandparents have educated the family allowing us to gain a deeper understanding from a personal level. Therefore, a notion of place is depicted through that ideas associated with family and a sense of belonging.
Day 2: Experiencing Rebirth after Destruction
When in Israel in July 2016, I visited what is known as Yad Vashem, Holocaust Memorial in Israel. Officially, known as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Israel.
Designed by Moshe Safdie, a world-renowned architect, the holocaust memorial is supposed to represent “a prism like triangular structure that penetrates the mountain from one side to the other, with both ends dramatically cantilevering into the open air”. The whirlwind of emotions was evident through the structural meaning of the building and the various different parts before reaching the main entrance of the memorial. Moshe Safdie wanted to deliver the feelings and emotions portrayed at the time of the Holocaust and explored this through the structure of the memorial. Yad Vashem translates to “a place and a name” referring to the millions of people that were not given the formality of a Jewish funeral.
As my family approached the monument, I was soundless as we reached what to me looked like a concrete necropolis. The emotions and feelings of this incredible memorial processed many different personal attributes. Walking through the air-conditioned entrance providing a chill sensation through the dark gloomy tunnel full of candles and mirrors representing losses of children ending at the entrance of the museum made the experience surreal. When walking into the main memorial you can see the exit, which is sat, on the look out, giving you a glimpse of a panorama view of Israel, however you have to weave your way through the historical overview before reaching the final destination. Each destination walked had a different name relating to a part of history. Walking though the square of hope, down to the garden of the Righteous among the nations passed the Pillar of Heroism each part gave a place of belonging and historical value.
Towards the end of the memorial site, we reached a research room, which allowed us to find out more information about Dora and Yakov Mindes who were my grandfather’s grandparents. I found out that Yakov Mindes was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1873. He was a merchant and married to Dora Rubinshtein. Dora Mindes was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1871. She was a housewife and married to Yaakov. They both lived in Leipzig, Germany during and prior to the war. This provided me with a sense of place and feeling as their files were kept at such a historical monument and allowed me to feel a connection with them.
Day 3: An eye-opening analysis of the Holocaust in the eye of the Israelis
The overbearing emotions fixed with the sense of place and idea of home while being surrounded by tears and an intense motion of family allowed the remembrance of my great great grandparents findings to be surreal. Research has explored the concept of place of memory and the idea of memory of place; this has to do with monuments and sites related to trauma allowing feels to be processed. The idea of place is associated by meanings, cultural value and a social significance, which is reflected through memory.
I was recently reading an academic article by Maria Tumarkin on her interpretation of the memorial of Port Arthur. Her concepts and notions described throughout how text reflect back at me when thinking about the memorial and what happened at the time of the Holocaust. Tumarkins use of descriptive language allows the reader to grasp a sense of severity of the issue and expresses the severity of a memorial site. While being at Yad Vashem the sense of issues, place and memory becomes vital as a sense of family and feelings are enhanced. Tumarkin further draws on ideas such as, loss, a feeling of alienation in the “aftermath of the massacre” and the impact it has on many people, which are all, emphasized through feelings associated with how I felt while being at the historical memorial.
It is through the indication of place, which is linked by meanings, cultural value and a social significance, which is reflected through memory. Place can be classified as a space with a meaningful and memorable emotional attachment through human interaction. The memorial held emotive value providing a sense of home and place. Therefore the notion of place making is discovered and further investigates memory, which is layered to build textured memories and histories.
The images below are the concentration camp certificates of my great great grandparents.
References:
Johnson, G. (2014). Holocaust Concentration Camps: 7 Somber, Preserved Sites | Travel Blue Book. Travel Blue Book. Retrieved 22 September 2016, from http://travelbluebook.com/holocaust-concentration-camps-preserved-sites/
Levine, J. (2016). Holocaust Photographs | Jewish Virtual Library. Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 22 September 2016, from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/phototoc.html
Phillips, K. R. (Ed.). (2009). Albma Rhetoric Cult & Soc Crit : Framing Public Memory. Tuscaloosa, US: University Alabama Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au
Safdie, M. (2016). Safdie Architects — Yad Vashem, Children’s Holocaust Memorial. Msafdie.com. Retrieved 24 September 2016, from http://www.msafdie.com/projects/yadvashemchildrensholocaustmemorial
The Holocaust History Museum — Yad Vashem. (2016). Yadvashem.org. Retrieved 23 September 2016, from http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/museum/architecture.asp
The Place of Memory and Memory of Place — Interdisciplinary Research Foundation. (2016). Memory.irf-network.org. Retrieved 18 September 2016, from http://memory.irf-network.org
Till, K. E. (2005). New Berlin : Memory, Politics, Place. Minneapolis, US: University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au
Tumarkin, M. (2013). Love at Last Sight: Port Arthur and the Afterlife of Trauma. CSR, 10(2), 13. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/csr.v10i2.3469
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,. (2016). Introduction to the Holocaust. Ushmm.org. Retrieved 21 September 2016, from https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143
Yad Vashem — The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. (2016). Yadvashem.org. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from https://www.yadvashem.org