I have enjoyed seeing photos of your trip and this piece was especially well written. Having just returned from a Rhine cruise, I was struck by how all our tour guides made a point of how Germany and the German people have gone to great lengths to examine the roots of their own anti-semitism. Posting any anti-semitic filth in Germany now is a punishable crime. I'm not sure this is the right approach as free speech - no matter the content - should always be defended. (an issue we are grappling with here in the US at this time also). I did not get the same impression when we toured areas on the French side of the Rhine - and if you follow current events, anti-semitism is clearly still alive and well in France. I do agree with you though that Japan would also do well to examine the rise of their own extreme militancy, as we would do well to question whether we were wise in dropping the bomb on Hiroshima. Anyway - thank you for this evocative essay.
Atrocity tourism is a reasonable label; within the umbrella designation of "dark tourism," a subset including mainly war-and-politics related historical tourism. (For instance, Pompeii is dark tourism, but it's not atrocity tourism, since it was the product of a natural event. Still, the phenomenon of Pompeii includes plenty of heritage & culture components.) Dark tourism is actually a large field within cultural/heritage interpretation. Speaking as a member of the National Association for Interpretation. But however we label it, it is generally very moving; generates understanding and empathy for the victims of atrocities. Never forget; never again.
Ilana,
I have enjoyed seeing photos of your trip and this piece was especially well written. Having just returned from a Rhine cruise, I was struck by how all our tour guides made a point of how Germany and the German people have gone to great lengths to examine the roots of their own anti-semitism. Posting any anti-semitic filth in Germany now is a punishable crime. I'm not sure this is the right approach as free speech - no matter the content - should always be defended. (an issue we are grappling with here in the US at this time also). I did not get the same impression when we toured areas on the French side of the Rhine - and if you follow current events, anti-semitism is clearly still alive and well in France. I do agree with you though that Japan would also do well to examine the rise of their own extreme militancy, as we would do well to question whether we were wise in dropping the bomb on Hiroshima. Anyway - thank you for this evocative essay.
Atrocity tourism is a reasonable label; within the umbrella designation of "dark tourism," a subset including mainly war-and-politics related historical tourism. (For instance, Pompeii is dark tourism, but it's not atrocity tourism, since it was the product of a natural event. Still, the phenomenon of Pompeii includes plenty of heritage & culture components.) Dark tourism is actually a large field within cultural/heritage interpretation. Speaking as a member of the National Association for Interpretation. But however we label it, it is generally very moving; generates understanding and empathy for the victims of atrocities. Never forget; never again.
Thanks so much for this, Ilana. I learned a lot.