August 3rd

Memorial to Victims of War and Fascism 

Memorial to Jews of Europe

Today’s walking tour started out at the memorial site to those individuals that were killed in an apartment building during the Second World War. It was a fitting memorial and encapsulated the suffering that was brought about during this time period. The sculpture made of beautiful white marble conveyed to me the terrors that numerous innocents suffered while in these Nazi camps during the Second World War. Next to that marble sculpture was a sculpture that tried to amend the wrongs that had been done to the Jewish community. It was a man scrubbing the ground with barbed wire sitting atop of him. Although I believe Ruth Kluger would disagree with the portrayal of Jewish suffering. She feels as though concentration camps should not be used as memorials because so much death and suffering took place there, and that its unfair to portray a collective experience when so many individuals suffered. She felt as though the magnitude of the atrocities committed lose the desired affect when all individuals are just lumped together into one memorial. She feels that it is not appropriate to allow the camps to stand, so that tourists may photograph them as they please. It allowed me to reflect on the terrible, and unnecessary treatment directed toward the Jews of Europe. There is nothing glorious about war, yet it seems as though societies tend to focus on heroic actions and put war up on a pedestal. For me, when I see sculptures that memorialize those who were lost, I can’t help but feel saddened and disgusted. After being in Vienna a few days and traveling through Germany, I find that Vienna with this memorial, has acknowledged their troubled past and has acknowledged their participation in collaborated with Hitler and his Nazi party in 1938 when Hitler announced the Anchluss with Austria. I am torn on how to feel about Austria’s collaboration with the Nazi party. Professor Stuart made a great point when she said how dictators usually gain support by utilizing performances. When Hitler gave his speech from a balcony atop the Hofburg, people were overjoyed. Though not all of them supported the Nazi party, a lot of individuals were swept up in the hysteria that Hitler needed to gain support for his “Third Reich” and his aggressive expansionism. It showed that if the Viennese opposed the polices of the National Socialist party, how were they going to go against the popular majority and the Nazis who now had Austrians under their collective boot heels.