A few days ago, I was meeting my mother for dinner near the World Trade Center Memorial. As usual, I was at the restaurant early. They were getting ready to open. I wandered around. I passed the Anne Frank Tree, a sapling descendant of the original horse chestnut tree outside her secret annex, which brought her peace while she was hiding. I have a copy of her diary sitting on my living room table. Last year, I attended a few events about her and the diary.
After walking by her tree, I ventured over to the World Trade Center Memorial. I saw flowers stuck into the grooves near the names of some of the victims of this tragedy. The museum is next to it.
I have spent time in Berlin, Prague, and Vienna, and have been to countless memorials for the Shoah. When you travel to Washington, DC, you can visit the Jefferson, Vietnam Veterans Memorials and World War II memorials, as well as the Lincoln and Washington Monuments. Every city is chock full of memorials and monuments.
The question is: Do we need them? Are there too many? Yes, I think we need the ones for Jefferson, Lincoln, and Washington. Their presidencies shaped our nation. Do we need the ones for the Holocaust and others who have been memorialized? That’s the bigger question. If Anne Frank had lived the normal life she should have, we wouldn’t be planting trees cloned from the one in front of the annex where she hid. If 9/11 had never happened, those working in the World Trade Center (WTC) would still be here and maybe still be working in the WTC. Same with the memorials for all the slain police officers and firefighters who we lost in the line of duty.
We would not need these memorials if we lived more intelligently.
Mitchell's thoughts, photos, etc. 