The Holocaust Memorial Park in Brooklyn, New York

[Emily Witty]

Dear Colleagues and Friends,
There was quite an uproar recently in Brooklyn surrounding the Holocaust Memorial Park in Manhattan Beach. (Yes, Manhattan Beach is in Brooklyn.) Here is the story: The Jewish community together with the NYC Parks Department set up a Holocaust Memorial Park. The park contains numerous stones each with a description of an event or place or person in Holocaust history or a Jewish community or family that perished. Some examples of information on the various stones include: Mordechai Anielevicz; Treblinka, Auschwitz, Anne Frank. There was a great push to include the other victims of Nazi persecution in this park, as well. The push was to add stones for the Sinti and Roma, the disabled, the homosexuals, the Witnesses, and political prisoners. One member of the NYS Assembly opposed the addition of these stones on the grounds (literally and figuratively) that this was for victims of the HOLOCAUST (Jews) and not Nazi persecution. I am including a number of links from the various newspapers and blogs which basically did not agree with the NYS Assemblyman. What do you think? Will the story of the Holocaust be lost if we do not include other groups and "broaden the base?" Is the story already lost once we do?

LINKS:
http://www.vosizneias.com/32994/2009/06/08/brooklyn-ny-assemblyman-...


http://dailygotham.com/mole333/blog/whoownstheholocaust

[Emily Witty]

Not all the links posted. If you want to search for more information, type these keywords into Google. hikind/holocaust/park

[Karen Shawn]

First, I thank you for sharing this; I had no idea it existed! Next, I am already concerned that people are using the false "5 million" number to discuss other victims. When and how can we help to put that false number to rest? Finally, I do not think I can formulate a rational opinion without understanding much more. Who made this park? Who paid for it? To whom does the land belong? What was its stated intent? What are its goals and rationales? Without knowing this, I still feel that it is important to acknowledge the full truth of the event, that others were indeed caught up in the Nazi net of death, although the Jews were the targets for whom the net was cast; therefore, why not include a few smaller stones to memorialize the others while making clear the limited losses in those groups? I do not think it would take away from the horror of the Holocaust or from the memorialization of the Jews...but again, I have not seen it or read anything about it, so this is just my first, uninformed response. I will, however, search for more information!

[Emily Witty]

Hi Karen,

I really like the phrase you included, "the Nazi net of death." As you correctly write the net was cast for Jews and others were caught up in it. To answer some questions: As far as a I know, the land belongs to the Parks Department and it was established by the local community in Manhattan Beach. It is 25 years old because last week (June 14th) there was a celebration marking its anniversary.

Emily

[Al Nobile]

Thought-provoking post, Emily. I'm friendly with a few Witnesses from that era, so weigh my response accordingly. The test for me is commonality of experience. Did members of these other groups suffer in proportional numbers and under similar settings? How do other Holocaust memorials deal with these groups?

My take is that the story could only be strengthened when other groups attest to the brutality and atrocities that were visited on them and their fellow inmates. Leopold Englietner tells an extraordinary story of compassion when food was witheld in a concentration camp after an attempt on Hitler's life. The Jewish inmates were subjected to an extra day of starvation, but the Jehovah's Witness inmates shared their meager rations when they received them. I tend to think compassion such as that rates a stone.

That being said, I can also advocate for the other side where a group or movement becomes so inclusive that it loses it's core identity. A certain guardianship is called for to ensure that the message is not diluted. We live in an age of hyperbole and I have encountered examples of individuals using the word "holocaust" to advocate for their own cause.

I do not envy the task of those who have to make these decisions. They are in a no-win situation. Somewhat off-topic, my organization created a website for Mr. Englietner. It contains photos only, but more info is on our main site. Finally, we have another website dedicated to Anne Frank that contains a classroom presentation that we produced, and are rightly proud of.

Hope you don't mind the commercials. Our organization encountered the Ann Frank and Leopold Englietner stories around the same time, which I find interesting given the context of your post.

[Emily Witty]

Hi Al,

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I,too, can see both sides of the story. It is quite a difficult position to be in and as time passes, I wonder if the best way to "keep the story and memory of the Holocaust alive" is to share the history with the other victims of Nazi persecution. I guess as educators we will have to watch and be vigilant.

Emily

[Pam]

Emily -- Thanks for emailing me re: this topic. First, applause to the Manhattan Beach community for the park project! I assume this was city-owned land, so I wonder if there is a statement of purpose on file somewhere. If the land was specifically designated as a way to memorialize Jewish victims, the controversy would be pointless. It seems, however, that its purpose is not so clearly defined, and therein lies an issue fraught with emotion and wrapped up in pain.

The Jewish story IS "vastly different," as noted by the assemblyman in your first link; perhaps the horror of that story is not lessened by inclusion of other Nazi victims but is, rather, magnified by such. I take your last sentence seriously, though, and THAT thought horrifies me. When I read your response to Al Nobile's post (re: being vigilant educators), I looked at my own classes. As an educator, I focus on the Jewish victims -- that's probably 95% of my focus. I feel obligated to spend the other 5% of my focus on others, too. I have never felt that this lessens the Jewish story; I've always felt that, instead, this emphasizes perpetrator evil. Smaller park stones, in light of that, seem more acceptable to me.

I hope you'll keep everyone up to date on the park and what follows, Emily!

[Karen Shawn]

Pam, I agree with your point that to discuss/commemorate the other victims in proper historical proportion emphasizes the evil that was done by the perpetrators rather than detracting from the fact that the Jews were the main targets.