Goldhagen Discusses Holocaust Memorial

BOSTON--"Whose history is it?"

This was one of the primary questions addressed at a symposium on the New England Holocaust Memorial yesterday at Faneuil Hall. Among the panelists were Associate Professor of Government Daniel J. Goldhagen '81; James E. Young, associate professor of English and Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Margot Stern Strom, executive director of the educational non-profit organization Facing History and Ourselves; and Leonard Zakim, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

The symposium, which discussed the two-year old monument near Fanueil Hall, attempted to determine generally how history becomes memory and more specifically how that Holocaust should be remembered.

Goldhagen discussed the perception that the Holocaust, which killed 6 million Jews during the Second World War, was the watershed of this century.

"Many people say the central event of the 20th century was the Holocaust," Goldhagen said. "This is not my view, although many people say this."

According to Goldhagen, most people think the Holocaust was a central event not because Jews suffered, but because the Holocaust was perpetrated by a Western European country deemed to be at the pinnacle of civilization. This contrast challenges our notion of progress, Goldhagen said.

Young talked about the relationship between memorials and politics, noting that memorials are both imbedded with and conditioned by politics.

"History is distorted by politics," he said.

Strom spoke of educators' ongoing struggles toteach Holocaust history properly. Adult educationand the first amendment must be priorities if theHolocaust is to be properly discussed, she said.

The difficulty in teaching the Holocaustoccurs, Strom said, when non-Jewish studentsquestion the Holocaust's role as part of their ownhistory. Teachers have difficulty teaching theHolocaust because they do not believe they can dojustice to the subject or its complex moraldilemmas, she said.

Zakim questioned the politics of rememberingthe Holocaust.

"What is the true impact of memory?" Zakimasked. "All learning is not enough to make thingschange."

Zakim said that it has come to light onlyrecently that Switzerland was not neutral inhoarding Nazi Gold in its banks. Furthermore,there is still a problem with insurance defaultsand neo-Nazi activities in the United States, hesaid.

According to Zakim, history is only valuable ifcitizens learn from past mistakes and work tocombat racism and anti-Semitism today. Judaism isa faith based on deeds, not words, he said, andthe best measure of the legacy of the Holocaust iswhat the younger generation does to combat racism.

To illustrate the current state of Holocaustawareness, Daniel Mirsky, a 1997 Wesleyan graduatewho had studied the Holocaust with Strom, relatedan incident he witnessed recently. Passing the NewEngland Holocaust Memorial, he noticed someone hadtaken the time to systematically spit on each ofthe plates where names and quotations wereinscribed. Mirsky said it stood as a reminder tothe state of society today.

Goldhagen said the memorial is brilliant in itspedagogical function because it forces people tothink about freedom and dictatorship on thefreedom trail.

"The Jews were not martyrs," Goldhagen said."They were victims.

"History is distorted by politics," he said.

Strom spoke of educators' ongoing struggles toteach Holocaust history properly. Adult educationand the first amendment must be priorities if theHolocaust is to be properly discussed, she said.

The difficulty in teaching the Holocaustoccurs, Strom said, when non-Jewish studentsquestion the Holocaust's role as part of their ownhistory. Teachers have difficulty teaching theHolocaust because they do not believe they can dojustice to the subject or its complex moraldilemmas, she said.

Zakim questioned the politics of rememberingthe Holocaust.

"What is the true impact of memory?" Zakimasked. "All learning is not enough to make thingschange."

Zakim said that it has come to light onlyrecently that Switzerland was not neutral inhoarding Nazi Gold in its banks. Furthermore,there is still a problem with insurance defaultsand neo-Nazi activities in the United States, hesaid.

According to Zakim, history is only valuable ifcitizens learn from past mistakes and work tocombat racism and anti-Semitism today. Judaism isa faith based on deeds, not words, he said, andthe best measure of the legacy of the Holocaust iswhat the younger generation does to combat racism.

To illustrate the current state of Holocaustawareness, Daniel Mirsky, a 1997 Wesleyan graduatewho had studied the Holocaust with Strom, relatedan incident he witnessed recently. Passing the NewEngland Holocaust Memorial, he noticed someone hadtaken the time to systematically spit on each ofthe plates where names and quotations wereinscribed. Mirsky said it stood as a reminder tothe state of society today.

Goldhagen said the memorial is brilliant in itspedagogical function because it forces people tothink about freedom and dictatorship on thefreedom trail.

"The Jews were not martyrs," Goldhagen said."They were victims.