2007-03-20 16:00:08綠灣巡守員
【石塊的回聲---德國首座猶太大屠殺紀念堂致力於瞭解】
原英文報導見《英文台北時報》2005年7月13日第13版
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/07/13/2003263385
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【石塊的回聲---德國首座猶太大屠殺紀念堂致力於瞭解】
記者邱育慈(Yu-Tzu Chiu)報導
走在波浪般起伏地面上，狹窄通道裡，你獨自深陷水泥板塊間。除了冰冷，你一無所有，而頭頂上遙遠的天空彷彿是唯一出路。突然間你瞥見某身影自一石塊後出現，又旋即消逝於另一石塊。周遭孤絕之感是如此難以擺脫。
靜默引人絕望。而這絕望恰似對那十二年納粹政權期間（1933-1945）那被迫害的猶太人所忍受著的一切，一個遙遠且漸弱的回響。
對大部分在今年（2005）造訪柏林的觀光客來說，從這座德國第一個由官方設立的大屠殺紀念堂，可回顧現代社會仍引以為戒的納粹恐怖故事。
今日德國與納粹政權已大不相同，但關於德國自身過去尚未解決問題爭議不斷。當1988年德國記者李羅許（Lea Rosh）提議由官方建造大屠殺紀念堂時，新的激辯再度展開。沸沸洋洋十七年後，紀念堂終於完成。現在，這大約有三座足球場大的區域與周遭毫無藩籬阻隔，恰座落於當時諸多納粹高階將領之辦公區。
《省思》
對某些台灣人來說，這座紀念堂也引人反思台灣自身過去尚未解決的問題，特別是慘痛的二二八歷史與白色恐怖時代。1947年軍事鎮壓之後，無數無辜台灣菁英與平民，喪命於蔣介石軍隊之手。這些事件在台灣人心裡留下的陰影或許類似於歐洲的猶太人屠殺。
二次大戰結束後，德國花了六十年的時間才建立了第一個官方紀念堂。其實，也是直到了1950年代與196年代，年輕的一代才怒吼疾呼要德國人面對納粹罪刑。但是在台灣，歷史的責任與罪刑仍至今尚未全面被大眾公認。對此，台灣駐德國大使謝志偉說，「很遺憾的是，加害者至今仍然把自身的作為歸咎於當時的政治氛圍。」
《德國的自我探尋》
納粹政權有系統性地謀殺了約六百萬猶太人，其中有一百四十萬名兒童。除了大屠殺外，納粹其他的暴行陰影至今仍籠罩著德國社會。而今年（2005）五月十二日，這由兩千七百一十一塊石碑組成的大屠殺紀念堂終於落成，附近不遠處就是象徵德國精神的布蘭登堡大門。
紀念堂座落於柏林心臟區，靠近美國大使館，周遭是多所文化機構、商號、學校、政府單位、民宅與城市綠肺--提爾公園，這樣的地點象徵其公共特色。此外，與富歷史色彩的國會與政府機構所在的都會空間融合，也突顯出紀念堂所寄望建立公民社會之意。
自啟用以來，場上總是可見許多訪客：老人沈思，遊客好奇，吵鬧的青少年在石塊間跳來跳去，年幼的小孩則玩起了捉迷藏。激進的設計理念，促使來自紐約的建築師彼得愛思曼（Peter Eisenman）捨棄使用任何象徵符號。即使這裡所使用石碑之數量也和大屠殺歷史無關連。
這片石塊交織成的網絡，人們可從隨意任何一處進出。所有防水中空石塊均由高規格的水泥製成，長 238公分，寬 95公分。擺放時任其略傾斜於不同角度，遠眺時則類似波浪，似座恐怖之洋。
解說員羅夫歐本多夫（Ralf Oberndorfer）說，「走進石塊高於你的區域時，你再也見不到周遭的建築。整座柏林城於焉消失，而你彷彿置身於一個死亡的房間。石塊間的距離僅容一人通行，於是你只剩自己，不免有絕望之感。」
紀念堂的建造歷時兩年。1988年由李羅許呼籲建造時所引發的爭論始終未曾停歇。這斥資兩千七百六十萬歐元（約三千三百四十萬美金）的紀念堂，身陷各種爭端十多年。比方，製造石塊上防水防塗鴉的特殊塗料之廠商Degussa，其母公司 Degesch 在納粹時期製造致命氣體 Zyklon B 供奧許維茲（Auschwitz）集中營毒死猶太人之用。
羅夫歐本多夫說，「因為德國社會沒有任何一角落與從前之納粹政權毫無牽連，所以要求一座純粹清白的紀念堂是不可能的。」不過，這引發爭議的化學塗料，後來並沒有在此使用上。
羅夫歐本多夫不否認地說，他的祖父就曾為納粹做事。「每個德國家庭都與納粹有某種程度的連結。但是你仍須去克服。像是馬拉松長跑一樣，你必須每天都準備一點點。」
《正確之教育》
珍妮歐諾西（Jenny Onochie）是兩個小孩的母親，至今仍可回憶起中學時代初聽大屠殺之倖存者演講時的強烈震撼。現在她正試著找到更好的方式，以便來日可以妥當地向孩子解釋這部分的德國歷史。她說，「不回顧歷史，又如何有未來？」
從二次戰後以來，德國至今已付出鉅額賠償大屠殺之倖存者。而之前流亡前蘇聯地區或者其他國家的猶太人，在德國也早已獲得資助。 （完）
* NOTE: 「被屠殺歐洲猶太人紀念堂」資訊詳見http://www.stiftung-denkmal.de
。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/07/13/2003263385
Echos of concrete
Germany’s first Holocaust Memorial promotes understanding
By Chiu Yu-tzu
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005, Page 13
Walking down a narrow passage over undulating ground, you find yourself alone, immersed in waves of cement slabs. You see nothing but cold concrete blocks and it seems the distant sky above is the only way out.
Suddenly, you catch a glimpse of someone appearing from behind one of the blocks and disappearing behind another. It’s hard to escape the feeling of isolation.
The silence arouses a sense of despair, a distant and much-diminished echo of what was endured by persecuted Jews during the 12-year reign of the Nazis.
For most tourists visiting Berlin this year, the completion of the Holocaust Memorial, Germany’s first official memorial dedicated to all murdered Jews of Europe, offers an opportunity to review a terrible warning in modern history: the story of the Nazis.
Although today’s Federal Republic of Germany has nothing in common with the Third Reich, a new wave of controversial discussions about Germany’s "unresolved past" took place in 1988, when German journalist Lea Rosh first proposed the memorial. Seventeen years later, the monument to the mur-dered Jews of Europe finally a couple of months ago in Berlin. The fenceless open area covering the space of about three football fields was once heavily used by high-ranking Nazis.
[Reflection]
For some Taiwanese people, the Holocaust Memorial offers a chance to reflect on Taiwan’s own unresolved past, specifically the poignant history surrounding the 228 Incident and the White Terror -- the brutal military crackdown begun in 1947 that resulted in the slaughter of thousands of innocent Taiwanese, from the intellectual elite to lay people, at the hands of Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) troops.
The shadow of these events on the minds of the Taiwanese people could be similar to the holocaust for the Jewish people. Since the end of World War II it has taken Germany six decades to open its first official Jewish holocaust memorial. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that the voice of young generations became stronger, demanding that German people to face up to the crimes of the Nazis.
In Taiwan, however, historical responsibility remains unaccepted and the crime has yet to be fully acknowledged.
"It’s a pity perpetrators now still defend themselves and attribute what they did to past postures on political affairs," said Taiwan’s representative to Germany, Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉).
[Germany’s self-understanding]
The Nazis’ systematic murder of 6 million Jews -- including 1.4 million children -- as well as other atrocities still affects German society. On May 12, the field of 2,711 stone slabs near the Brandenburg Gate, Germany’s national symbol, was first opened to the public.
Its location in the heart of Berlin -- near the US Embassy, various cultural institutions, businesses, schools, federal structures, apartments, and the city’s park, the Tiergarten -- expresses the memorial’s public character. Its integration into the historic urban space of the parliament and government district highlights the fact that the memorial is directed toward building a civil society.
Since the public inauguration, the field has been visited by a range of people, including ruminating seniors, curious visitors, noisy teenagers jumping from stele to stele, and kids playing hide-and-seek.
The memorial was planned by New York architect Peter Eisenman, whose radical design does not use any direct symbolism. Even the number of stelae is of no significant relation to the number of victims.
The grid of concrete blocks can be walked through from all sides, leaving it up to visitors to find their own way in and out of the complex. The waterproof stelae are made of high-quality concrete, each 0.95m wide and 2.38m long. They are hollow and tilted in slightly different ways. Looking far into the distance, the stelae are like waves. The field could be an ocean of cold terror.
"When you walk into the middle of the field, where stelae are higher than you, you cannot see buildings around anymore. The city of Berlin disappears and it’s quiet like a death room. The distance between stelae allows only one person passing at one time. You walk by yourself. You are sort of in despair," said Ralf Oberndorfer, an interpreter working at the information center.
Before the two-year construction of the memorial, there had been a long discussion of an idea brought up in 1988 by Rosh, who called for a "high-profile memorial."
The planned memorial, which would cost 27.6 million euros (US$33.4 million), was mired in controversy for more than a decade.
For example, the company that developed anti-graffiti chemicals for the monument, Degussa, was under the parent company of Degesch, which manufactured the lethal gas Zyklon B -- the gas that the Nazis used in the "shower" rooms in places like Auschwitz.
"Since there’s no piece of German society that doesn’t have connections of the Nazis, we cannot build a monument of innocence," Oberndorfer said -- although in the end the chemicals were not applied.
"Every German family has some linkage with the Nazis. But you have to cope with yourself. It’s like you prepare for a marathon. You have to do at least a little bit everyday," said Oberndorfer, whose grandfather worked for the Nazis.
[Teach your children well]
Jenny Onochie, a mother of two, said that she was shocked when listening to a survivor of the holocaust who spoke in one of her classes when she was a teenager. Now she always tries to come up with better ways to appropriately explain this part of Germany’s history to her children.
"You cannot have a future without looking back [at] your history," Onochie said.
Germany has paid billions of dollars in compensation to Holocaust survivors since the end of World War II. It has also taken in displaced Jews from the former Soviet Union and other countries, and financially supported victims. (END)
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/07/13/2003263385
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【石塊的回聲---德國首座猶太大屠殺紀念堂致力於瞭解】
記者邱育慈(Yu-Tzu Chiu)報導
走在波浪般起伏地面上，狹窄通道裡，你獨自深陷水泥板塊間。除了冰冷，你一無所有，而頭頂上遙遠的天空彷彿是唯一出路。突然間你瞥見某身影自一石塊後出現，又旋即消逝於另一石塊。周遭孤絕之感是如此難以擺脫。
靜默引人絕望。而這絕望恰似對那十二年納粹政權期間（1933-1945）那被迫害的猶太人所忍受著的一切，一個遙遠且漸弱的回響。
對大部分在今年（2005）造訪柏林的觀光客來說，從這座德國第一個由官方設立的大屠殺紀念堂，可回顧現代社會仍引以為戒的納粹恐怖故事。
今日德國與納粹政權已大不相同，但關於德國自身過去尚未解決問題爭議不斷。當1988年德國記者李羅許（Lea Rosh）提議由官方建造大屠殺紀念堂時，新的激辯再度展開。沸沸洋洋十七年後，紀念堂終於完成。現在，這大約有三座足球場大的區域與周遭毫無藩籬阻隔，恰座落於當時諸多納粹高階將領之辦公區。
《省思》
對某些台灣人來說，這座紀念堂也引人反思台灣自身過去尚未解決的問題，特別是慘痛的二二八歷史與白色恐怖時代。1947年軍事鎮壓之後，無數無辜台灣菁英與平民，喪命於蔣介石軍隊之手。這些事件在台灣人心裡留下的陰影或許類似於歐洲的猶太人屠殺。
二次大戰結束後，德國花了六十年的時間才建立了第一個官方紀念堂。其實，也是直到了1950年代與196年代，年輕的一代才怒吼疾呼要德國人面對納粹罪刑。但是在台灣，歷史的責任與罪刑仍至今尚未全面被大眾公認。對此，台灣駐德國大使謝志偉說，「很遺憾的是，加害者至今仍然把自身的作為歸咎於當時的政治氛圍。」
《德國的自我探尋》
納粹政權有系統性地謀殺了約六百萬猶太人，其中有一百四十萬名兒童。除了大屠殺外，納粹其他的暴行陰影至今仍籠罩著德國社會。而今年（2005）五月十二日，這由兩千七百一十一塊石碑組成的大屠殺紀念堂終於落成，附近不遠處就是象徵德國精神的布蘭登堡大門。
紀念堂座落於柏林心臟區，靠近美國大使館，周遭是多所文化機構、商號、學校、政府單位、民宅與城市綠肺--提爾公園，這樣的地點象徵其公共特色。此外，與富歷史色彩的國會與政府機構所在的都會空間融合，也突顯出紀念堂所寄望建立公民社會之意。
自啟用以來，場上總是可見許多訪客：老人沈思，遊客好奇，吵鬧的青少年在石塊間跳來跳去，年幼的小孩則玩起了捉迷藏。激進的設計理念，促使來自紐約的建築師彼得愛思曼（Peter Eisenman）捨棄使用任何象徵符號。即使這裡所使用石碑之數量也和大屠殺歷史無關連。
這片石塊交織成的網絡，人們可從隨意任何一處進出。所有防水中空石塊均由高規格的水泥製成，長 238公分，寬 95公分。擺放時任其略傾斜於不同角度，遠眺時則類似波浪，似座恐怖之洋。
解說員羅夫歐本多夫（Ralf Oberndorfer）說，「走進石塊高於你的區域時，你再也見不到周遭的建築。整座柏林城於焉消失，而你彷彿置身於一個死亡的房間。石塊間的距離僅容一人通行，於是你只剩自己，不免有絕望之感。」
紀念堂的建造歷時兩年。1988年由李羅許呼籲建造時所引發的爭論始終未曾停歇。這斥資兩千七百六十萬歐元（約三千三百四十萬美金）的紀念堂，身陷各種爭端十多年。比方，製造石塊上防水防塗鴉的特殊塗料之廠商Degussa，其母公司 Degesch 在納粹時期製造致命氣體 Zyklon B 供奧許維茲（Auschwitz）集中營毒死猶太人之用。
羅夫歐本多夫說，「因為德國社會沒有任何一角落與從前之納粹政權毫無牽連，所以要求一座純粹清白的紀念堂是不可能的。」不過，這引發爭議的化學塗料，後來並沒有在此使用上。
羅夫歐本多夫不否認地說，他的祖父就曾為納粹做事。「每個德國家庭都與納粹有某種程度的連結。但是你仍須去克服。像是馬拉松長跑一樣，你必須每天都準備一點點。」
《正確之教育》
珍妮歐諾西（Jenny Onochie）是兩個小孩的母親，至今仍可回憶起中學時代初聽大屠殺之倖存者演講時的強烈震撼。現在她正試著找到更好的方式，以便來日可以妥當地向孩子解釋這部分的德國歷史。她說，「不回顧歷史，又如何有未來？」
從二次戰後以來，德國至今已付出鉅額賠償大屠殺之倖存者。而之前流亡前蘇聯地區或者其他國家的猶太人，在德國也早已獲得資助。 （完）
* NOTE: 「被屠殺歐洲猶太人紀念堂」資訊詳見http://www.stiftung-denkmal.de
。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/07/13/2003263385
Echos of concrete
Germany’s first Holocaust Memorial promotes understanding
By Chiu Yu-tzu
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005, Page 13
Walking down a narrow passage over undulating ground, you find yourself alone, immersed in waves of cement slabs. You see nothing but cold concrete blocks and it seems the distant sky above is the only way out.
Suddenly, you catch a glimpse of someone appearing from behind one of the blocks and disappearing behind another. It’s hard to escape the feeling of isolation.
The silence arouses a sense of despair, a distant and much-diminished echo of what was endured by persecuted Jews during the 12-year reign of the Nazis.
For most tourists visiting Berlin this year, the completion of the Holocaust Memorial, Germany’s first official memorial dedicated to all murdered Jews of Europe, offers an opportunity to review a terrible warning in modern history: the story of the Nazis.
Although today’s Federal Republic of Germany has nothing in common with the Third Reich, a new wave of controversial discussions about Germany’s "unresolved past" took place in 1988, when German journalist Lea Rosh first proposed the memorial. Seventeen years later, the monument to the mur-dered Jews of Europe finally a couple of months ago in Berlin. The fenceless open area covering the space of about three football fields was once heavily used by high-ranking Nazis.
[Reflection]
For some Taiwanese people, the Holocaust Memorial offers a chance to reflect on Taiwan’s own unresolved past, specifically the poignant history surrounding the 228 Incident and the White Terror -- the brutal military crackdown begun in 1947 that resulted in the slaughter of thousands of innocent Taiwanese, from the intellectual elite to lay people, at the hands of Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) troops.
The shadow of these events on the minds of the Taiwanese people could be similar to the holocaust for the Jewish people. Since the end of World War II it has taken Germany six decades to open its first official Jewish holocaust memorial. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that the voice of young generations became stronger, demanding that German people to face up to the crimes of the Nazis.
In Taiwan, however, historical responsibility remains unaccepted and the crime has yet to be fully acknowledged.
"It’s a pity perpetrators now still defend themselves and attribute what they did to past postures on political affairs," said Taiwan’s representative to Germany, Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉).
[Germany’s self-understanding]
The Nazis’ systematic murder of 6 million Jews -- including 1.4 million children -- as well as other atrocities still affects German society. On May 12, the field of 2,711 stone slabs near the Brandenburg Gate, Germany’s national symbol, was first opened to the public.
Its location in the heart of Berlin -- near the US Embassy, various cultural institutions, businesses, schools, federal structures, apartments, and the city’s park, the Tiergarten -- expresses the memorial’s public character. Its integration into the historic urban space of the parliament and government district highlights the fact that the memorial is directed toward building a civil society.
Since the public inauguration, the field has been visited by a range of people, including ruminating seniors, curious visitors, noisy teenagers jumping from stele to stele, and kids playing hide-and-seek.
The memorial was planned by New York architect Peter Eisenman, whose radical design does not use any direct symbolism. Even the number of stelae is of no significant relation to the number of victims.
The grid of concrete blocks can be walked through from all sides, leaving it up to visitors to find their own way in and out of the complex. The waterproof stelae are made of high-quality concrete, each 0.95m wide and 2.38m long. They are hollow and tilted in slightly different ways. Looking far into the distance, the stelae are like waves. The field could be an ocean of cold terror.
"When you walk into the middle of the field, where stelae are higher than you, you cannot see buildings around anymore. The city of Berlin disappears and it’s quiet like a death room. The distance between stelae allows only one person passing at one time. You walk by yourself. You are sort of in despair," said Ralf Oberndorfer, an interpreter working at the information center.
Before the two-year construction of the memorial, there had been a long discussion of an idea brought up in 1988 by Rosh, who called for a "high-profile memorial."
The planned memorial, which would cost 27.6 million euros (US$33.4 million), was mired in controversy for more than a decade.
For example, the company that developed anti-graffiti chemicals for the monument, Degussa, was under the parent company of Degesch, which manufactured the lethal gas Zyklon B -- the gas that the Nazis used in the "shower" rooms in places like Auschwitz.
"Since there’s no piece of German society that doesn’t have connections of the Nazis, we cannot build a monument of innocence," Oberndorfer said -- although in the end the chemicals were not applied.
"Every German family has some linkage with the Nazis. But you have to cope with yourself. It’s like you prepare for a marathon. You have to do at least a little bit everyday," said Oberndorfer, whose grandfather worked for the Nazis.
[Teach your children well]
Jenny Onochie, a mother of two, said that she was shocked when listening to a survivor of the holocaust who spoke in one of her classes when she was a teenager. Now she always tries to come up with better ways to appropriately explain this part of Germany’s history to her children.
"You cannot have a future without looking back [at] your history," Onochie said.
Germany has paid billions of dollars in compensation to Holocaust survivors since the end of World War II. It has also taken in displaced Jews from the former Soviet Union and other countries, and financially supported victims. (END)