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- At this point, what do you feel the purpose(s) of concentration camp
visits are?
Visiting a concentration camp was for me a practical, empirical
exposition of things I have read. Linear, black-and-white readings can be
easily, unconsciously skipped over, or soon forgotten through selective
memory. But seeing a place, feeling the aura and the aridity of such a
place cannot be forgotten. You can shut off your memories if the
emotions they evoke are too strong, but little by little they will come
out, and will make you understand the evil and the sorrow.
-How do you feel our visit to Buchenwald compared to our visits of
Holocaust memorials in Berlin? What are the differences between a camp and
memorials?
To me, the Holocaust memorials were not as effective as the
concentration camp. Buchenwald, being an "original" memorial, triggered
more emotions. Maybe the street signs were also very effective because
they were placed in strategic positions (the law of Jews not being able to
shop at certain hours next to a supermarket, for example), and it was
easy to imagine being a Jew passing in front of a supermarket and not
being able to get in, simply because it was the wrong time. But how can
a huge, massive concrete memorial evoke anything that has to do with the
Holocaust?
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