Acknowledging the Holocaust
New memorial stirs controversy

Women stand among the 2,711 symbolic gray blocks at the Holocaust Memorial, a tribute to the more than six million European Jews killed by the Nazi government during World War II. (1/6)

         Sixty years after the end of World War II and 17 years in the making, Berlin welcomed its newest memorial on May 10, 2005.
         Situated near the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial appears at first to be a massive graveyard. With more than 2,700 concrete slabs protruding out of the ground like monolithic tombstones, it is - upon closer inspection - more of a labyrinth.  
         Architect and designer Peter Eisenman faced criticism before the first stone was put in place. The design and construction, along with purpose, were all criticized by the public and governing officials according to the British Broadcast Company and other news sources.
         When plans were finalized in 1999, it was decided there would be no plaques, inscriptions or symbols. However at that point graffiti would be allowed, or at least not restricted.
         As the final steps were taken in the completion of the memorial it was decided to coat the cement plinths with an anti-graffiti agent to hopefully discourage vandals. Yet this too became controversial as it was uncovered that the company supplying the anti-graffiti agent had once also made poison gas used in Nazi death camps.
         Feelings of uncertainty, isolation, claustrophobia and feelings of being lost and are some of the descriptions used to explain the experience of walking through the memorial. Although laid out in a grid, the cement slabs seem to grow as a visitor walks into the center along the uneven footpaths and soon the once knee-high slabs tower overhead at precarious angles leaving a visitor wondering how to get out.
         But getting out isn't a problem; the feeling of aloneness as people appear and disappear in passing rows is the problem. As children begin playing hiding games with parents or friends, the yell of a lost person is not far off. Being separated becomes the fear as every path looks the same.
         The psychological experience of walking through the memorial is to mimic the feelings of the Jews who were victims to the holocaust.
         How the memorial is accepted and treated remains to be seen. Built on a section of no-man's land in the former East with no fences or barriers, the 24-hour-a-day memorial struggled with people jumping from stone to stone during opening week. Others walked solemnly amid the concrete pillars, sometimes leaving flowers.