Why memory | The Indian Express

Why memory | The Indian Express

Written by Seema Chishti |Updated: August 29, 2017 8:34:34 am

Why memory

Hindutvavadis saw Gandhi’s eclecticism and abhorrence of the two-nation theory as a threat to their ideas. The communal hate fuelled by Partition and the quick turn of events between August 1947 and January 1948 created an enabling climate for them to kill Gandhi.

The museum has, no doubt, been refurbished with care and imagination. Its aesthetic speaks to each visitor, but something very important is missing.

The Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum, near Berlin, is the same concentration camp where the Nazis perfected the method of killing Soviet prisoners of war by firing a neat shot at the back of their neck while pretending to measure their heights. It is also the place where the famous pastor, Martin Niemoller, the one who spoke of the folly of not speaking out when they came for Communists, trade union leaders and then the Jews, was kept. When they came for him, there was no one left to speak for him.