Sunday, August 05, 2007
Memoralizing Evil
I am just back from Berlin where the people have memorialized evil so that it may not happen again. There were ongoing debates about how much power the state needed to fight terrorism, to protect people. The fear was that if the people gave up their civil liberties and rights in the name of security, was that not a slippery slope towards totalitarianism?
At the place where book burnings happened(Bebel Platz) there is a plexi glass window in the plaza beneath which is an empty room lined with empty bookshelves. The point is, according to a tour guide we overheard, that as you look down, you see a reflection of yourself, and then focus on the empty book shelves.
"You can not change history" she said "you can only change yourself."
At the place where book burnings happened(Bebel Platz) there is a plexi glass window in the plaza beneath which is an empty room lined with empty bookshelves. The point is, according to a tour guide we overheard, that as you look down, you see a reflection of yourself, and then focus on the empty book shelves.
"You can not change history" she said "you can only change yourself."
