Berlin’s Holocaust memorial turns 20 but would Germans rather draw a line under Nazi era?

Some say it feels like walking through a field of gravestones. Others liken it to a maze of coffins, disorientating and eerily quiet despite being in the middle of Berlin.

The German capital’s sombre Holocaust memorial – an arrangement of 2,711 concrete steles that has drawn millions of visitors – marks its 20th anniversary this month.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe has become a powerful symbol of Germany’s determination to ensure the crimes of the Holocaust are not forgotten.

But as the world readies to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, fears are growing that the country’s strong tradition of remembrance is starting to erode.

Architect Peter Eisenman, 92, whose New York firm designed the memorial, said he wanted to create “an experience that you would have walking in the space like you couldn’t have in any other space in the city”.

  

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