Why do you visit memory sites? Why do we have memory culture? Respond here with any general thoughts or ideas related to this project.
Why do you visit memory sites? Why do we have memory culture? Respond here with any general thoughts or ideas related to this project.
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To honor what humans can endure and ponder why humankind can be so cruel.
I think its important to remember where we came from. These events happened and while they may not always be good, there is a simple fact that they should never be forgot. We can only learn about the future by studying the past and these memorials give us a chance to see what the past was like and hopefully we can use it to make a better tomorrow.
Dallas – J.F.K. An “X” on the pavement marks the spot – surprisingly no plaque or other official information. Private parties sell memorabilia. Still, no matter what the weather, people still congregate around the site.
Memorial sites touch the sensitive veins of all people contemporary to the horror. For the eyes of who ignored the tragedies and for the ones who wanted ignoring it, and for future generations.
Personally, I have never visited any memorial space. They keep a cruel reality-duality that I try to avoid visually. I don’t ignore them consciously (in my conscious).
3/14/08 This is my “place of memory.” I’m revisiting campus for the first time since moving to the west coast 4 years ago. I wondered how those four years would affect my perspective of this place. I wondered for example, if my recent appreciation of modernist expression would cause me to view the humanities building in a new light.
Over all it feels quieter, smaller, less progressive here than I remember. It’s at once comforting and disappointing that little has changed. The Humanities bldg still looks and feels like an architectural failure. It is a nice piece of serendipity though, to find this pencil and paper here, as I rhuminate (sic) on all these things. Perhaps this place is more successful and progressive than I know.
We visit memory sites so that we don’t have to read books. We have memory culture to fight contemporary political/social battles by proxy—we argue about the Armenians in Turkey 100 yrs ago because we are anxious about Turkey in the EU today or tomorrow. Also, we memorialize to contain trauma in the past, to isolate it from our present lives and actions.
I died and was reborn in a 1960’s VW microbus October 30, 1994. What is worth remembering isn’t the place or time but rather the joy of the beauty of creation and life that was in my heart as the sun rose the next morning. May joy be returned to us all! Know that paradise is HERE AND NOW we just have to recognize it.
We visit memory sites so that we don’t have to read books. We have memory culture to fight contemporary political/social battles by proxy—we argue about the Armenians in Turkey 100 yrs ago because we are anxious about Turkey in the EU today or tomorrow. Also, we memorialize to contain trauma in the past, to isolate it from our present lives and actions.
Also, memorial sites make us feel like moral beings, viva self-rightousness
EMOTIONAL TORTURE, Medford, WI, July 1997. My stepdad attempted to take away my personal sense of sanity by lying to have me committed to a mental hospital in Marshfield, WI because I confronted him, and told others, that he had acted in an inappropriate sexual manner as a child—the courts released me and am now pursuing my Ph.D. Who’s crazy?
I thought it was great, but being form Germany, I gotta say that Bergen-Belsen work camp was misplaced. It’s in the state of Niedersachsen (Northern Germany) not in the south (you placed it south of Stuttgart). Besides that: awesome.
When I went to Israel last summer, I declined to visit the holocaust museum. Part of me would have been too horrified, and the other part of me does not accept the official history of the holocaust. I did not want to be angry. I would also not want to be angry if I ever visited the WTC memorial, but I know I would be. I thoroughly believe that the United Stated, the British and the Israeli governments were behind those attacks and I could never walk through there alongside folks that thought random Arabs were behind the attacks. Ignorance seems to play a major role at memorial sites.
“This is the place where Jesus lived. I always wanted to see him so I am sad” (Just saw painting of Mary cradling dead Jesus)
“I feel sad because I miss my Mama” (picture of the museum)
Thank you for this project
Rivera Maya is a favorite memory site…but it’s my memory!
It was a walk that I always expected to take….
In our constant state of connection today, we know about tragedies, celebrations, wars and treaties while they happen on the other side of the world. With the ability to stream banal celebrity gossip and advertising right alongside news our world-changing events and policy comes, I think, a dilution of emotion, a loosening of reality, that can only be grasped once more by standing on the same ground. There is an infinitely more powerful connection created by embarking on a pilgrimage to a site that something happened on that changed our world.
The study of memory culture is part of that connection, and, as we become less communal, devoted to ensuring that connection is never lost.
I don’t know why people visit memory sites. I actually think it is a strange practice. Sometimes I’m glad I went, sometimes I wish i’d never gone at all. But there seems to be something particularly important about remembering that is very important, as if holding onto the memory, or just that the memory is being held somewhere, is more important than the place itself.
I’ve wondered at my responses at memorials and memory sites, why am I moved? First of all, I visit the sites knowing that I am going to be ‘moved’, I’m going there for the experience of being moved. Its almost as if that is the pre-requisite to visiting a site – the willingness to participate in memorializing. We are educated in various ways that memory sites are places for thinking about human connections, and values, and our responsibilities to one another. But those are values that are prescribed from the outside. I think that it is the desire for community that underlies all social aspects of our behavior. Humans are social animals that need community and a sense of belonging to make life meaningful. Memory culture is a sharing that makes community.
The discussion of memorials also lends itself to recognizing institutions and practices on an intimate and communal level. Along with the significant implications associated with well- known traumas are the sufferings experienced among communities locally. For instance, an unexpected homicide(s) could have a serious impact on a community/ state/ nation. Even though local traumas may not be aggressively publicized, it still warrants a level of respect and memory. Thus, within the context of restorative justice, communities work to restore those who have been injured while maintaining a just public order and peace.
Its true that it seems like a strange practice to visit a memorial site but I think people do it in a way of paying respects to the people or person who the memorial is in honor. Also as a way to demonstrate that they are not forgotten and they will continue to be remembered. It also could give us some closer exposure to history (just a thought).
It is astonishing to me how little I knew before coming to this website about the many catastrophes that took place outside of the United States and Europe. This is a reflection upon my schooling from the grades K-12; I spent a lot of time learning about events such as the the Alamo and the Holocaust, but I hadn’t even heard of events that took place at the Suicide Cliffs or Tema. The viewing of this website has opened my eyes to these atrocities committed from one human upon to another, and serves as an indication that I “owe it to myself” to learn more about these events in order to fully understand the scope of human rights violations in a world-wide framework.
It is incredible the number of sites in the world that exist which little is known about. Looking at all of the sites, I am shocked by how few I knew existed. This website is a great resource tool for those looking to gain more knowledge but also serves as a great reminder to never forget the atrocities that occurred
I feel as though many of us, myself included, are so focused on our own countries that if something going on in the world today is not all over the news we easily forget about it. It is shocking to then be reminded that we are not alone and to see this all from a “global perspective”. We are reminded that violence does not only occur in the United States (such as 9/11) but all over the world.
I believe memories and first-hand accounts revealing the atrocities of state-sponsored violence allow the healing process to progress in the most efficient manner. This site provides a great tool for learning more about the different areas around the world in which such atrocities occured. Extremely interesting as well as helpful.
this website is very important especially to those who were personally touched by state-sponsered atrocities, because it gives them something to remember the loved ones that they lost. Hopefully thi will be a reminder that crime does not have any preference and that it can happen anywhere. It’s up to us to make sure that such inhuman crimes do not occur again.
Ever since the first conquering of a nation (or tribe or what have you), there has been a need for selective memory. To allow for coexistence, victims and oppressors alike must find ways to move on from a violent past. Whether this means repression, such as Japanese alterations of textbooks to exclude or dismiss many of their past atrocities, or memorialization, such as the creation of museums in concentration camps and places of suffering, atrocities must be addressed in order to move on. Especially in cases of civil war, where one’s neighbors become one’s enemies and then one’s neighbors again, it is important to find a way to accept each other without devolving into a perpetual state of war. This is a very difficult task, because it often requires some form of forgiveness or acceptance of crime and atrocity in order to coexist. If we had no memory culture, conflicts would live forever, passed down generation to generation. The further away temporally one goes from an atrocity the less direct significance it has for each new descendant, which leaves fighting for the sake of fighting.
In this vein, I find it interesting that many memorial sites are sponsored by foreign countries. Also, many of the memorials on the map were based on events of World War II, something that involved many of the nations of the world. It seems it’s easier to gain distance from the event when it happened on foreign soil, while countries with violent histories of civil unrest and totalitarianism (e.g. the countries of South America or Africa) do not partake as much in memorialization, although they may be most in need of it.
Overall it’s a very difficult issue to move forward from traumatic experiences, and the gesture of apology or acknowledgment is a step in the right direction, to avoid the growth of further unrest and resentment.
I found this site incredibly useful and eye-opening. I feel people visit memory sites for a variety of reasons. Personally I just like to learn about the history of the world, unfortunately this site reveals a dark and cold history. Though it is difficult to grasp the impact that these atrocities have had on foreign soil, this site and it’s project help to put into perspective what has happened in the terms of worldwide human right’s abuses.
I visit memorial sites to pay tribute to all those who have departed from us. It’s also a good way for me to get in touch with what people of the past had to endure and access whether or not we as a society has overcome particular issues, or simply repeating history. I think we have memory culture to acknowledge our predecessors and help those effected to heal with warm memories.
i think the use of Google Earth is a very unique and very effective way to display memorials for those who have suffered from worldly atrocities. The ability to scan the globe from anywhere there is a computer allows people to gain insight and visualize memorials without necessarily having to travel to those locations.
I think that this site is a phenomenal effort to spread knowledge of the atrocities that have occurred across the globe- I was personally unaware that several of these memorials existed before visiting this site. This site provides an opportunity for people to pay respect to those victimized by these horrific events, in addition to hopefully providing an easily accessible venue for those who were personally affected and may need to heal by seeing images or connecting with others who visit the site. I think this site is a great idea.
I apologize, the comment was not meant to be anonymous.
I think google earth is a great way to show memorials around the world that people may not even be aware of without this web site. The visual of seeing where the memorials are along with the description made me more aware of the events that are occurring world wide that we may be unaware of. I think this site is an eye opener for those who are more interested or want to be involved in human rights issues world wide.
I appreciate the tremendous effort given to put together this site. It is imperative that we acknowledge past atrocities in order to learn from them and progress towards a more peaceful co-existence in the future. This site is not only informative, but serves to ensure that those who have suffered are not forgotten.
I am amazed by the sheer volume of sites collected by Trauma Tourism. Google earth is a really good idea for showing the locations because it acts as a virtual globe. this is an important website because it shows the universality of suffering that should not be forgotten