Tyler London Summer

Imperial War Museum

After class today I hopped on the Tube to the South Bank and visited the Imperial War Museum for the second time (first time this trip). There were a few things that I found interesting.

One was a quotation from Heinrich Heine, a german poet from the 19th century.

"Where one burns books, one will, in the end, burn people" - Heinrich Heine

The quotation was part of the Holocaust exhibit that is on permanent display at the museum. It was in reference to the Nazis burning of books after assuming power in the early 1930s. It reminded me of an interesting article that I read in Harpers' about the Evangelical Christian Movement in the States. I believe that it was some theologian or priest who said something to the effect of "When fascism returns it will be under the cloak of crosses and bibles." The article pointed out how Nazi persecution begain with homosexuals and then spread to the liberal intellegentsia and finally the Jews. The prospects for the evangelical christian right taking power in the U.S. are quite scary. With pundits such as Ann Coulter seriously calling for ideological purges at Universities, autonomy and freedom of thought for university professors may soon be at an end.

The holocaust exhibit also displayed the enormous educational power of pictures. One could read volumes on the Holocaust and read statistics that are absolutely horrible but not be as moved as seeing one picture. I felt the same way when we did not see pictures of the Japanese atrocities during the Rape of Nanjing in my history class last year because some girl took offense to it. History and real life are offensive. People should be aware of what the human race is capable of doing to one another. Not seeing it is not entirely believing it possible, which has been a detriment to mankind throughout its history.

After seeing the horror of the holocaust, one also must question how these same people who suffered through that could then do what they are doing in Palestine.

"For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke

Another exhibit that I found fascinating, which was not there the last time, was the Children's War Exhibit. The exhibit documented the experiences of children during the Second World War as well as providing an overall experience of domestic life. One of the most poignant experiences was overhearing an older gentlemen and his wife recognizing items found there and reliving their memories and experiences to each other. As Americans, I don't think we understand that war is "real" and happens in peoples homes rather than "over there." I don't think that they have forgotten that in Europe, which may be why they are somewhat reticent to engage in combat when diplomatic options are still on the table, rather than sheer cowardice and effeminacy as some may imply.

posted by tyler @ 1:21 AM