Blog #1 Memorial

So up for discussion in our first blog is how Germany and the United States memorialize their history. After having been here for two weeks, we have seen several different sites in regards to the often darker parts of the German's history. As Americans, I feel we are proud of our history (for the most part) and I think we draw a lot of our patriotism from our ancestors and from our past. Even times of adversity have brought Americans closer together- just look at September 11th. When terrorists meant to break our morale, we have been able to flip the tragic event around and take pride in how many heroes stepped up and how we have used that day to strengthen our ties with one another because you just never know what might happen. Germans, on the other hand, kind of have to wear their history on their sleeves. They accept their past and recognize that they too have had bright spots to commemorate, but they are generally not proud of the mistakes their ancestors have made, especially in regards to World Wars I and II.
Both the U.S. and Germany are similar in memorializing the start of their respective nations. Memorials are abundant throughout the U.S. in respect to our gaining of independence from Great Britain in 1776. One of the leaders of the war for independence, as well as our first president, George Washington, can be found in portraits, statues, memorials, museums, street names, and so much more. The guys face is even on our quarter and dollar bill. It doesn't get much more commemorative than that. We even found a statue of Washington in London outside of the British Museum of History (albeit much smaller than neighboring statues). Much of the same can be said for some dude called Otto von Bismarck (just kidding Tracy, I meant our beloved Otto). Otto is one of the brighter spots in German history- it was mainly because of him that the Germanic states came together in 1871 following that Franco-Prussian War.
But from there, the similarities are few and far between. In regards to the two World Wars, the Germans were blamed for both. Meanwhile, Americans look back at the two Great Wars and see ourselves as heroes and victors. In Washington D.C. there are memorials for all those who lost their lives protecting the freedoms of not only Americans but the freedoms and lives of millions throughout the world. The memorials we have seen in Berlin, especially those about WWII are more of a reminder to both the Germans as well as visitors from around the world that this really did happen and that we must all learn from past mistakes. The end of the second World War was just over 60 years ago. For many of us, we only need to look to our grandparents, just two generations, to find somebody who was impacted by the war. The world has advanced so much in the last 60 years, to our grandparents it must seem like a whole new place. The atrocities of the war are hard to swallow. Millions upon millions died as a result. The sheer numbers killed of various practicing religions and beliefs we have read about in Doris Bergen's "War and Genocide" are often not comprehensible.
And this is not to say we do not put up reminders of our own mistakes. We have a Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, we have a Vietnam War Memorial between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Monument in D.C. We look back on these parts of our history with remorse (hell, most of the nation is already regretting our involvement in Iraq).
Nine years ago I visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and saw all the memorials and stood on the walkway above the sunken U.S.S. Arizona and felt such a strong anger and frustration and sorrow for the events that took place there over 60 years ago. But that disbelief pales in comparison to visiting a concentration camp where thousands upon thousands of people were insensibly tortured and slaughtered because the Nazis believed they could create a pure "Aryan" race via "cleansing" the world of anybody who wasn't their definition of pure. And that is what memorials are supposed to do- they are put up to evoke these strong emotions and to make you realize that this really can happen and that we should do as much as possible to prevent anything like the Holocaust from ever happening again.
In a sense, it seems like all of Germany is a memorial to their history. Chunks of the Berlin Wall remain, while the rest of the wall was torn down and is now traced throughout the city. Though certainly not proud of their history, the Germans are trying to show the rest of the world that they are remorseful, that they are learning from their previous mistakes and that the world should too. Though our history is certainly not as gloomy and turbulent, I feel that the U.S. all too often celebrates our triumphs and humanitarian acts and try to sweep the not so pleasant parts under the proverbial rug. When I brought this up to Staush, he gave me a quizzical look and said, "Well what do you mean John? We Americans have never done anything wrong..." Though sarcastic, I wonder how many Americans really do believe that statement.