Ashiftin the Landscape
Firstthevictims fFHE
building site is still surroundedby a of thousandsof Germanseachyear. All born of
wereremembered, I chain{ink fence,but it is alreadya stapleon grassrootsinitiatives,they are not called memorinowthe I the Berlin tourist circuit. Scorei of visitors als,but placesof reflectionand learning.
dailyto count
"German confrontationwith the Nazi past has
perpetrators I climb an observationplatform
the grey pillars as they rise: some four metres(rl
grown dramaticallyin recentdecades,"sivs Reinfee0high,othersbarelyabovethe ground.When all hard Rürup, an historian.The generation
öf those
2;75rareerected,
theywill form a hugeplain of un- who lived through,and took part in, the terrible rz
dulating concrete sliced by narrow pathways years of Nazi rule is dying. Only now
have Gerthroughwhich the building's architect,pelerEisen- mans of the third generationfelt free
to delve into
man, expectsvisitorsto move alone,losingall cer- thisperiodof theirhistory."It'smuchharderto
containty and orientation.
front one'sown societyias a societyof perpetraOn May roth, two days after the eoth anniver- tors, than it is to honour the victims." öbsirves
sary of the end of the second world war. the ThomasLutz,who co-ordinates
the work of Holoworld'seyeswill be on this monumentinthe hearr caust-relatedmemorials and documentation
cenof Berlin.Here,a stone'sthrow from the Branden- tresfor the Topographyof TerrorFoundation.
burg Gate and surroundedby governmentbuildings and embassies,Germany will unveil its Me- The road from Dachau
morial to the MurderedJewsof Europe,intendedas Paradoxically, unification, which
some feared_
the country'sultimate gestureof atonementfor the would causeGermansto put thispast
behindthem,
Holocaust.Someforeignersmay be temptedto see has acceleratedthe change.Thä federal govern.
the memorial as an overdueacknowledgmentof ment, having respondedto calls to renoväte
meGermanguilt.Yetthishugeprojectlargelyäbscures morials in the east,has also felt obligedto
spend
a broadlandscapeof commemoratioä
tüat hasde- money in the west. All over Germany, it seems,
velopedacrossthecountryin recentdecades.
There thereis a new hungerto understand.yetit is still difare now hundreds of memorials,from concentra- ficult to tell the story.Is it possibleto avoid
shrines
tion-campmuseumsto plaquescommemorating that panderto public fascination?And how
canthis
resisters,from Gestapopiisons to brassbrickssunü part of the country's history be shown
to be relein the pavementoutsideordinaryhouses.namins vantlo Germans,particularlyyounger
ones,today?
theJewswho oncelivedthere.
The journey through this landscapeof comThis landscapeis undergoinga shift. Sincethe memorationbeginsnot in Berlin,butinBavaria,
the
earlyr99os,the aim of its creatorshas expanded birthplaceof National Socialism.A zo-minute
train
from commemoratingthe victims of Naziatiocities journey from centralMunich leadsto the
Dachau
to educatingyoung Gerniansand othersabout the memorial,visitedby morepeopleeachyear,
some
perpetratorsof thosecrimes.Documentationcen- 8oo,ooo,thananyotherNazi-era
site.Dachau,built
tres have opened at the most notorious Täterorte, in 1933,was the first concentrationcamp.ln
Lg45,
scenesof the crime,which arevisited bv hundreds picturesfrom here appearedin the first newsreels
that showedthe world the firll horror of what had
been taking place in Germany.So this memorial,
more than any other,incarnatesthe first, post-war
phaseof remembrance:honouring the victims.
Evenachievingthat was not easy.The local response,succinctlydescribedin a revampedexhibit
that opened last year, was "repressand forget".
After the war, Dachauwasusedby Americanforces
as a military stockade,then as a refugeecamp for
Germans expelled from the Sudetenland.Only
after someformer prisonershad fought a ten-year
battle for a fitting memorial on what had become
an overgrownsitedid the first exhibit open intg65.
Itwasthe victims who createdthe exhibit.astestimony to their suffering.At the time, few had any
interestin documentingtheir tormentors,saysBarbara Distel,the memorial's director.Historiansset
out to broadenthis view 30 yearslater, providing
new information aboutthe camp'srole in the larger
story of the ThirdReich,and bringingthe exhibitup
to the standardsnow common at historical sites.
Visitorsnow getmuch more than accountsof sufferingand a senseof the camp'sauraof ghastliness.
By following the "path of the prisoners"through
the rooms where the victims were onceprocessed,
stripped,washedand punished,they geta senseof
the full dimensionsof the Nazicriminal enterprise.
But telling the story of the perpetratorsis proving more difficult, even though a perfect opportunity liesnext door.Thess campadjacentto Dachau
was oncethe main training-groundfor many who
went on to run the most notorious camps,including Auschwitz.But when its curatorstried to reopen
Dachau'sgate,still bearingits sinistermotto Arbeit
machtfrei(Workmakesfree),in order to directvisitors acrossthe ss camp,they literally hit a wall. Citing trafficproblems,the town's authoritiesrefused
to breach an earthen barrier separatingthe two
camps;visitorsmust skirt the ss campinstead.
Homework meets disputation
Back in beautifully restored Munich, visible reminders arefar fewer.No one would guessthat the
Bavariancapital was once what Hitler called the
"capital of the movement", or that the party was
born here,and roseto power in its steamybeer cellars.After 1933,severalpartsof the Naziadministration were headquarteredhere;it becamethe centre
of the party's quasi-religion.Both bureaucracyand
cult lived side by side in Munich's Königsplatz,
ringed by dozensof Nazi buildings,including Hitler'spompous"Führerbau",in which the infamous
Munich agreementwas signed,and two "temples"
to honourthosekilled in Hitler'sfailed 19z3putsch.
Themain buildingsfound new tenantsafterthe
war, but the florid symbols of fascistmythology
were dynamited.The Templesof Honour arenow
overgrownfoundations;a lonely plaque is all that
marks the spot. This "guardedapproachto memory" is commonin Munich, saysGavrielRosenfeld,
an American historian. Though he has counted
over rro memorialsaround the city, many arehidden from public view and often bear ambivalent
inscriptions.A plaque to a resistancegroup called
the White Rose,for example,is tucked away on a
third floor and states,in Latin:"ILue courageshows
itself in resistanceto foreigndictatorship".
As elsewhere,however, Munich has recently
"startedto do its homework", saysLydiaHartl, the
city's cultural commissioner.A permanentexhibit
onMunichin theNaziperiodhasopenedinthe city
museum;the cornerstonehasbeenlaid for aJewish
museum; and last summer an exhibition was
mounted chroniclingthe expropriation of Jewish
property.Nonetheless,Munich has so far failed to
build the comprehensiveNazi documentationcentre that many callfor. Somefearit neverwill.
The reasonis not so much a reluctanceto confront the past,evenif, as somesay,the local dignitariesdo not want to spoil the imageof the "world
citywithheart". Thetortuousnatureof Germandecision-makingis moreto blame.Argumentragedat
first overhow bestto commemoratethis awfrrlperiod-with a walking tour, a building dedicatedto
the history of Nazism,or an exhibit aboutMunich's
specificrole. Oncethe city council had opted,last
April, for a Munich-only exhibit, more disputation
aroseoverwho should sit on the threeadvisorybodies for the project. Still unresolved is where it
shouldstand,aswell ashow the bill shouldbe split
betweenthe city, stateand federalgovernments.
In Obersalzberg,
two hours' drive easttowards
the Austrianborder,everythingis lesscomplicated,
if only becausehistory hastakenmattersout of the
hands of the Bavariangovernment.First,Hitler's
mountain retreat,which by war's end had become
a secondseatof government,was largelydestroyed
by British bombersin April 1945.American forces
usedwhat remainedasa recreationcentre,and the
summit eyrie,theEagle'sNest,becamearestaurant.
However,oncethe American army left in 1995,
the authorities had to act quickly. From the moment it was bombed, Hitler's house,the Berghof,
had attractedlootersand, worse,becomea shrine
to neo-Nazis.For years, hawkers had peddled
trashyhistories,repletewith photographsof Hitler
and his mistress,Eva Braun, taking the Alpine
air-in effect,keepingNazipropagandaalive.A proposal for a memorial was rejected,as none of Hitler's victims had died,or evenbeenforcedto work,
there.TheBavariangovernmentinsteädoptedfor a
solution that somehave criticisedas an attemptto
bulldozehistory: it tore down the Hotel Platterhof,
onceusedforHitler'sguests,
allowedanewhotelto
goup ata saferemoveandbyrggghadbuiltasomewhat antisepticdocumentationcentrenextto it.
Whateverthe motive. the resultis not bad. The
minute visitors enter, "We immediately confront Victimsremembered
the fascinationwith the criticalframing that counteractsthat fascination,"saysVolkerDahm,the centre's director. Meaninglesstwaddle? Not quite:
snapshotsof Hitler with childrenand postcardsof
the idyllic retreatare framed with text explaining
how such propagandafurthered his image as a
folksy "man of the people".Thereare accountsby
Albert Speer,the Nazis'foremostarchitect,and others describingeveningsat the Berghofas "excruciatingly dull". Even while steppinginside the vast
bunker complex-a kind of NaziToraBora-visitors
arepreventedfrom indulging in titillating Nazi undergroundtourism: one room featurestaperecordings of Auschwitzsurvivors,another showsvideo
of the carnageof the war. The documentationcentre alsodelvesdeeper,providing on a computernot
just profilesof Nazi leadersbut the biographiesof
25olower-rankingofficials.
...andtheir clothes
Yet,all in all, the exhibit strainsto do too much,
offeringfar more information than can readily be
absorbed,a failing it shareswith Dachauand other
commemorativesites.Youngvisitors in particular
are temptedto skip the exhaustivedescriptionsof
Hitler's foreign policy and troop movementsand
head straightfor the bunker.More generally,curators arenow arguingover whether documentation
centresshould remain a collectionof photographs,
documentsand explanatory material, or become
moremuseum{ike.As thosewho lived throughthe
eradie and their testimonyis lost,many argue,the
sitesthemselveshaveto speakmore strongly.
Threehours north along the autobahn,Nuremberg provides a bold response.At the new documentation centrein the vast Kongressehalle
at the
Nazis'rallygrounds,visitorsaregreetedby a sevenminute film taking them on a skateboardride
throughtime.Rollingthroughwhat is today a giant
urban park, a young couple open doors and peer
through windows into shots that fade into Hitler
addressingworshipping crowdsfrom the Zeppelin
standsand wavesof goose-stepping
soldiersin the
Luitpoldarena,the groveusedfor ss ceremonies.
Speerüransfixed
The main exhibit, too, calledFascinationand Violence,unrolls like a film. Eachroom createsa scene
with music,video, objectsand a few informational
panels,beginning with the rise of the Nazis and
ending with the Nurembergtrials. The bulk is devoted to the rally grounds,wherethe Nazisseduced
hundredsof thousandswith their massevents.Initial fascinationis speedilyundermined,however,
asvisitorsmove through roomsmade successively
narrower by metal plates,while the horrific consequencesare projectedalong the sides.Form and
contentalsomergein the architecture.GuntherDomenig,an Austrian architect,hasvirtually driven a
glass-and-metalstakethrough the north wing of
the massivebrick congresshall. He callsit a Speerim
Speer-aspearintoAlbertSpeer.
The goal was not just to attract young people
through dazzlingdesignand audio-visualmedia.It
was only logicalto presentthe grounds'historyusing the theatricalvocabulary of the "media event"
that the Nazis themselvesused, saysHans-Christian Tdubrich,the directorof the centre.Thismeans
a certainlossof depth.But Mr Täubrichseesthe exhibit as a way to interestpeople enough to make
them askquestions,and the centreis unashamedly
educational.It holds,for example,a continuousseriesof lecturesinwlichZeitzeugen,witnessesto the
events,takepart. They rangefrom camp survivors
to ex-soldiersand leadersof the Hitler Youth.
Thereis no end in sightto Germany'sstruggleto
commemoratethis past. Sincethe Holocaustmemorial in Berlin will be dedicatedto the murdered
Jews, other groups who also suffered have demanded, and will soon get, recognition as well.
Separatememorials to the homosexual and the
Roma and Sinti (gypsy)victims are under way in
centralBerlin.And if ErikaSteinbach.of the Federation of the Expelled,succeeds
in her quest,a centre
commemoratingthe forcedexpulsionof rzm Germansfrom easternEuropewill alsobe built.
Not surprisingly,Ms Steinbach'sinitiative has
causedcontroversv.Critics sav it is evidenceof a
worrying tendencyto include the GermansthemselvesamongHitler'svictims;examplesrangefrom
the honouring of Waffen-sssoldiers among the
war deadin Bitburg,duringRonaldReagan's
visitin
1985,to a spateof recentaccountsof Germansuffering in the bombing of Dresdenand other cities.The
new German film "The Downfall", which chronicles Hitler's last, mad days in his Berlin bunker,
leavesGermanviewerswith a comfortingview of
their forebears'role-astragicvictims of a deranged
Ieaderwho broughtcatastropheupon the nation.
"In zo yearswe will all be victims," comments
Andreas Nachama caustically,"but the brownshirts didn't fall from the sky." Mr Nachamaruns
the Topographyof Terrorand, if there is a danger
that the Germanswill move too quickly through
any examinationof their role as perpetrators,this
exhibit should certainly help to reduceit. The Topographyof Terroris an entireBerlin block,which
oncehousedthe headquartersof the Reichsecurity
services.This.a mereten minutes'walk from the
Holocaustmemorial and not far from Hitler's bunker (long ago paved over by the Russians),is the
closestthing that Germany has to a central site
marking the role of the perpetrators.In closeproximity here the Gestapo,ss and Reichsecurity service organisedterror and murder on a grandscale.
On the remaining foundations,uncoveredin the
mid-r99os,an open-airexhibit describesthe workings of the Nazi terror machine and providesprofiles of its main actors-to show "the continuity of
many careersafterthe war", saysMr Nachama.
Wherethe Topographyof Terrorcould do more
is in explainingwhy the greatmajority of Germans
played so willingly along, and just how easily ordinary burghersturned to massmurder.A few concentrationcamps,suchasRavensbrückand Neuengamme,areopeningstand-aloneexhibitson the ss Nuremberg,
193os
guards.At Sachsenhausena new exhibit shows
how much the town of Oranienburgreally knew.
Yetmany sites,as their curatorsadmit, have yet to
incorporatethe quantitiesof new researchon the
lower{evel perpetrators,civil servantsand ordinary businessmenwho zealouslycarriedout or profited from the Reich'sracialpolicies.
Onthispoint,theHouseof theWannseeConference,in Berlin'ssouth-westsuburbs,doesan exemplary job. The villa, where r5 seniorNazisplanned
the "final solution",was the first "perpetratorsite"
when it openedin 1992,and housesa graphicexhibition. It alsooffersintensiveseminarsfor adults,in
which soldiers, nurses and tax officials, for instance,learnpreciselyhow their predecessors
carried out Hitler'sgenocide,
and discussthelessons.
"We don't work with moral finger-pointing,"
saysWolf Kaiser,who directsthe educationalprogramme."It's our goalto bring peopleto reflecton
institutional pressureand civil courage."At seminarswith membersof Germany'sborderpolice,he
reports,heateddebatearisesoversuchquestionsas
when expulsionordersshould be disobeyed.This
approachiswhy Germany'snewinterestintheperpetratorsshould not be fearedas a preliminary to
condoningbut asa necessarydevelopmentto keep
the worst from happeningagain.Or, as Mr Kaiser
puts it the duty of thosewho overseetheTiterofte
isto..keepalivetheawarenessthatvigilanceforhu-I-fl}'
...andnow
man rightscanneverbe relaxed." r