Prisoners of History: What Monuments to World War II Tell Us about Our History and Ourselves

Historian Lowe (Savage Continent) examines WWII monuments around the world in this thought-provoking survey. “Hero” monuments, such as the Douglas MacArthur Landing Memorial in the Philippines, are less about historical reality than “our mythological idea of what it means to be a hero,” according to Lowe. The “comfort woman” statue in Seoul, South Korea (officially known as the Peace Statue), shows how “martyr” monuments can be politicized, while the destruction of Hitler’s bunker in Berlin “feels like an exercise in denial.” Ridicule might be a better way to deal with the “monsters of our past,” Lowe suggests, describing a Lithuanian sculpture park where busts of Communist leaders have been enclosed in a llama pen. Lowe also reflects on visions of “apocalypse” and “rebirth” in WWII memorials, including the balcony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, which offers visitors a “remarkably soothing” view of the Judean hills after they’ve gone through exhibits on the horrors of the Holocaust. Lowe’s nuanced readings of these and other monuments support his argument that they should be protected from the whims of “contemporary politics.” (He notes that anti-USSR sentiment has brought down monuments to WWII heroes in Eastern Europe.) The result is a perceptive and persuasive call for remembering the tragedies and triumphs of the past. (Dec.)