Holocaust Disillusionment Analysis

Having set out the foundations of support for the memorial scheme and its complexities on a national scale, it is important to investigate the actual implementation of the project, displayed most clearly through the creation of memorials and museums in Berlin. The scale and popularity of these memorials present the strongest case that the project is moving in an expanding and well-supported direction. Accompanying memorials like the Topography of Terror and the Neue Wache Memorial, there two main memorials dedicated specifically to the holocaust and memory of Jewish deaths; these are the previously mentioned MMJE (Fig. 2) spearheaded by Lea Rosh and ‘Perspektive Berlin’ as well as the Jewish Museum designed by Daniel Libeskind (Fig. 3). First

However, the project is not immune to resistance and resentment towards the constant reminder of German involvement in the Holocaust. Moderate disillusionment showcases itself in younger generations that not only did not actively take part in the holocaust, resent the bombardment of guilt through education and memorials. Historian Karen Till attempts to explain this desire through the dilemma younger generations now have to face, wanting to “identify with ones ancestors but not being allowed morally may explain, at least why Holocaust denial as well as the fear of it is an ongoing problem in Germany.” One Berlin memorial educator stated in 1992 that, “When the words resistance or communist are mentioned in tours or seminars, students eyes glaze over.” Till mentions the phrase, ‘holocaust denial’ which one argues would be better suited to describe the more extreme responses to the memorial project rather than connecting it mildly disillusioned adolescents. Indeed, extremist groups like the followers of Neo-Nazism not only reject the premise of the memorial project, some reject the very existence of the genocide and take violent action against its commemoration. Till is right in describing the problem of denial as “ongoing” shown through neo-Nazis use of ‘shock tactics’ e.g. the burning and desecration of Jewish cemeteries. In 2014, a video surfaced of a man urinating on the MMJE and jumping on the concrete slabs in protest against a commemoration ceremony on New Year’s Eve. Actions by groups such as these have captured the attention of the media. In the film Beruf neo-Nazi (Occupation neo-Nazi), a neo-Nazi yells abuse during a guided tour, taking advantage of their stunned silence and disbelief. The extremist does not cease until a visitor confronts him. Hardlined activists complicate the seemingly streamlined success of the memorial project. However, it