Rewriting history

Those thousands of plaques on the pavements of numerous European cities are profoundly and deeply moving. Each is a tragic testament to the Jewish residents, as well as other groups targeted by the Nazis, such as Roma (Gypsies), whose names, and years of birth and death, are commemorated on the memorial blocks, mostly on the sidewalks in front of the victims’ homes. The plaques are known as stolpersteine, stumbling blocks, and their numbers, thought to be around 100,000 now, are growing. Conceived of by German artist Gunter Demnig, they are ubiquitous. Unlike Holocaust museums, which inspire a learning experience but must be sought out, the plaques are serendipitous, appearing unexpectedly, abruptly, and without notice, making them parts of the landscape of many European cities. They appear in numerous cosmopolitan locations such as Berlin and Vienna, where we saw them again and again, most recently on several stopovers en route to Israel.

It’s easy to forget that these great cities were once home to many educated and sophisticated Jews, who did not envision the horrific futures that awaited them. It is common knowledge that many were very prosperous, well integrated into their cultured and affluent lives, with no concept that they would be memorialized by their names embedded in the pavement. The sheer ordinariness of the markers adds to their sweeping effectiveness. Jewish victims of the Shoah were rarely buried in cemeteries, with no grave markers to attest to their very existence, so the stolpersteine are the only reminders of their having lived.

Walking today through major European capitals, the plaques are unexpected and horrific reminders of what was. Today’s Berlin, for example, has a New York City vibe, always alive and awake, with a certain joie de vivre. History can easily be forgotten and replaced with the dynamics of current lifestyles. It is a busy, noisy place and nearly impossible to reconcile with the horrors of the Holocaust. The plaques put a human touch to the current sights and sounds of the city, replacing normalcy with the horrors of recent history. The stolpersteine are everywhere, memorable and ubiquitous. Perhaps we Jews need less reminding than others, but persistent reminders can help all of us to do what is imperative, to remember.

That’s why the present government here in the United States is so misguided in its attempts to revise history, to make remembering impotent, and basically non-existent. Our president is attempting to whitewash the history that our country shares and replace it with statues and untruths. Slavery would be erased from our museums and history books, sanitized and made to disappear. We cannot and should not allow this to happen, but we are impotent. So much is tumbled onto our plates that it is veritably impossible to resist everything. Revisionist history is only one of many areas of severe concern. We are deliberately distracted constantly, unable to continually focus on the threats that surround us while tending to our lives and families. This is, I believe, by design, not by accident. When caught in a whirlwind, merely staying erect is a challenge. How can we, as individuals, challenge everything when so much is being torn asunder? Friends, fellow Jews, I know we share the questions, but do we have the answers?

One further note. Last week my Opinion article, titled “Where are you Jews?,” published in this paper, garnered many supportive responses. I wrote about several issues within our present government, and I am grateful that you read what I had to say and that you agreed with my points. There were two detractors, but freedom of speech and the press still reign in our America, and these negative voices were far in the minority. Our educated opinions are urgent to share, and I thank you all for your careful replies. Virtually all that we can do is to speak up, speak out, and vote wisely. Let’s do it!

Rosanne Skopp of West Orange is a wife, mother of four, grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of nine. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. She is a lifelong blogger, writing blogs before anyone knew what a blog was! She welcomes email at rosanne.skopp@gmail.com

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