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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Holocaust Memorials Czech Style

Sadly, there is a lot to memorialize in the Czech Republic related to the Holocaust. The war that swept through all of Europe, and beyond, had an early start in what was then Czechoslovakia. As early as March of 1938 Germans asserted control of Sudetenland, to be followed by Moravia and Bohemia, and the end did not come until the war itself ended--six years is a long time, and a totalitarian regime without morals can do a lot of irreparable damage in that amount of time. So how to remember those who perished at that time? There are so many. And no graves are known for the vast majority of them. How to do that any kind of justice is very hard.
The Czechs have struck me as an artistic people--which is a big help when it comes to making things right in a monument. Prague is such a spectacular city, both in the architecture that remains from it's medieval roots to have it has grown organically and beautifully through each era since. So it is not surprising that they have poignant and tasteful memorials for those who were systematically murdered by Nazi armies. I like the simplicity of these memorials, and the ability to place stones of remembrance on them, in a way that enhances the beauty of the piece, is especially appreciated.

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