The concept of memory and history is an interesting one. It’s like the old saying “if it tree falls in the woods and no one hears it – did it fall?”
The Christians tried to erase the memories of both Jewish and Islamic people. In an area of the world where religion is a crucial part of your identity, erasing memories is exceptionally cruel. It is cruel both immediately and for generations to come. Yesterday, we visited the Sefarad museum. There young lady entertained us with her beautiful voice. She believes her family has ties to the Jewish community from traditions that have been handed down to her by her relatives. Yet she really does not know for sure.
Today in Granada we visited the Alhambra. There we learned about the Islamic people that were forced to convert or leave Spain. Thus erasing all memories of this part of their history. Our guide remarked that is unclear how many people have ancestors that were part of this time in history. Again memories were erased.
These concepts reminded me of what Howard Chandler, a holocaust survivor, told me on my Classroom without Borders trip to Poland. He explained that the Auschwitz Camp was a memory monument to all of what had happen there. That today many people who enact genocide use “killing pits”. This is exceptionally evil because there is no memory after a few years of what has happened.
Memory is a critical part of our history and our personal identity. It is interesting to see how history has tried to erase memories.