Spiegelwand Memorial: The Incredible Reflection of Emptiness

Berlin's Spiegelwand Memorial is a commemorative complex commemorating the Jewish citizens of the Steglitz district who perished during the Holocaust. Excellent in concept and execution, it is a sublime example of the work of remembrance.

A Visit to the Spiegelwand Memorial Is Optional. It Is Also a Personal Favorite.

Under the impetus of the great thinkers of the 18th century, foremost among them Moses Mendelssohn, Judaism underwent a profound theoretical revolution that set it on the road to assimilation. It was not a question of choosing between two identities, but of embracing both at once: German by culture and Jewish by faith. Despite the religious prejudices of the time, and the more devious prejudices of racial anthropology in the 19th century, the Jews were emancipated and integrated into the national community.

The result was the absence, if not the historic absence, of strictly Jewish neighborhoods in Germany. Jews and non-Jews shared a common language, wore the same modern clothes and fought together on the battlefields of the First World War. Jewish Germans rose to the highest levels of government. As a symbol of this integration, Jewish worship was predominantly liberal. In everyday life, it became impossible to distinguish a Jew from a non-Jew. Indeed, many didn't even know they were Jewish until the Nazis reminded them.

The synagogue in the Steglitz district escaped the Pogroms of November 1938, for fear that its fire would spread to non-Jewish homes. Persecution was followed by deportation and murder. In 1995, a memorial was inaugurated to the ordinary people who were murdered because they were Jewish or considered to be Jewish.

An Ingenious and Effective Design

At the intersection of a major shopping street, the railway network and the local market, a small square appears set back. It seems completely empty. Yet strange reflections ripple through the air. As you approach the center of the square to get a better look at this curious phenomenon, a huge wall 9 meters long and 3.5 meters high finally appears. Its surface is covered with reflective plates, making it invisible and blending in with the everyday surroundings.

Information is inscribed on both sides of the wall. A brief chronology and a few photographs and quotes from contemporaries and survivors provide historical context. Nevertheless, the emphasis remains on the local, i.e. the Steglitz district, its synagogue, its former Jewish community and the people who died in the deportation. Unusually, the first names, surnames, dates of birth and addresses of each victim are detailed. The tribute is as much collective as individual.

The reflective surfaces, possible brightness and absence of a memorial park make for difficult reading. Unprotected, the visit is made standing, flush to the wall, and contemplation is difficult in this rather noisy and busy urban environment. On the wall, a familiar figure appears: that of the visitor reflected in the mirrors. This ingenious mise-en-scène calls out to the living, involving them in the presence of the departed, who are no longer strangers.

Living and Remembering

The Spiegelwand Memorial in Berlin is a great success. It is a model and a source of inspiration for anyone interested in the forms and, even more so, the place of remembrance work in public space. Despite its small size, it is one of the most incredible memorial projects in the German capital. It is, so to speak, a philosophical work.

The idea of a reflective wall is an excellent one. It makes memory invisible and allows contemporaries to go about their own daily lives, without guilt or the need to remember. In spite of everything, life goes on and present generations must not bear responsibility for past atrocities. However, they are judged by the way in which they maintain memory.

If there can be forgetting, ignorance and denial are not acceptable options: the memorial is there. But more than the Shoah as such, it is the memory of the people, who are identified here, that is remembered. The Shoah is not about statistics, however monstrously high they may be. It's about shattered lives and journeys. The names inscribed allow for a personalized, more human tribute. The discovery of one's own face on the wall naturally creates a mirror image that unconsciously provokes projection and empathy towards people who are now familiar.

Reasons to Visit

• Remarkable discretion

• Named victims

• The game of illusions

Reasons to Skip

• Visiting time necessarily limited

• Sometimes difficult to read

• Lack of public benches