J-Term Practica, 2016
Never Again
March 9, 2016
When I entered the Museum of Memory in Santiago, I began to have flashbacks of time spent at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. Both museums shared the same sterilized, obsessively clean feeling that caused such an internal conflict because the horrors that occurred were quite the opposite. As I walked through the museum, I noticed many parallels between the Nazi regime in Germany and the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. People were persecuted for their beliefs, whether religious or political. Families were broken; people were stripped of their rights and freedom, and even their lives.
As a Jewish person who grew up in a tight-knit Jewish community and spent time in Israel, there was a common theme that was very present and palpable throughout my Jewish education– “never again”. There was an emphasis on the importance of the story through spoken word. We were inundated with stories of Holocaust survivors and were taught about the atrocities and human rights violations during this time. It was made very known and highly emphasized that we were the last generation who would be able to hear first person accounts of Holocaust stories. In Chile, we were able to hear the first person accounts from people whose family members had been kidnapped and were never to be seen again– people whose land was taken away leaving them with nowhere to go, people who were imprisoned and beaten for standing up for what they believed in.
Chile now has a Democratic government and people no longer have to live in fear, but that does not necessarily make their lives easier. Many have turned to the power of the story, perhaps as a means to search for closure or a way to educate the youth or the international community. They have the right to speak their truth, but should they? OR should they let bygones be bygones and try to look to the future where their children can live free without persecution? Is holding on to the past keeping Chilean society from achieving its fullest potential?
While we stood at the cemetery in Santiago, a man stopped by to listen to our conversation about the military coup. At first, he stayed towards the back of the crowd, a fly on the wall observing, silent– absorbing information. Finally, he snapped. I saw it in his eyes. “Why are we still talking about this? How can we ever get past this if we keep talking about it?”, he said.
Cementario General, Santiago Chile
On the opposite side of the spectrum, we met with people like Juana who has made it her mission to speak out, let her story be known and heard, and who believes that the only way to heal and to create change is through storytelling.
Death of Pinochet- Street Art, La Victoria
These questions do not have black or white answers– rather they remain in a big, fluffy cloud of grey without a “right” answer. As an outsider, I see the benefits to both viewpoints, but I do not feel comfortable choosing sides as this is not my history and as I just said, I am an outsider. Despite this, I hope that the people of Chile are able to reconcile their differences and work together to create a brighter future for their children and that all people, regardless of their political affiliation or personal beliefs, can agree on one thing– Never Again.
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