Fifty years after the Holocaust, tourists can lounge on benches and stroll through concentration camps where millions of people were confined, tortured and executed. Spaces that were once sources of terror and shame are now seen as monuments to be preserved. Gavrielle Rosenthal, a 1998 Knox graduate, has been awarded a prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to investigate Holocaust memorials and how they shape "collective memory"--both for Holocaust survivors and for those with no experience of the Holocaust.
"As a child and a Jew, I was confused about the memory of the Holocaust," said Rosenthal. "I remember being told that Jews should `never forget' the Holocaust. I wondered 'never forget' what? I didn't experience it, so of course, I don't remember it. This got me thinking about the importance of collective memory."
Rosenthal's project, "Concentration Camps and Collective Memory," will involve travel in the coming year to Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Israel. The fellowship includes a grant of $18,000 to cover travel and living expenses.
An art studio major who graduated from Wheeling High School in Illinois, Rosenthal will examine physical changes in the camps since World War II, compare various memorial sites, and interview people visiting the memorials to study how collective memories are created.
"I don't intend to define Holocaust memorials as good or bad. I want to see how people react to moving through spaces where the uses have changed so dramatically." But Rosenthal is concerned that the camps should not become commercialized, "like America's history has been presented in some theme parks."
Knox College is one of just 51 colleges that can nominate students for Watson Fellowships. The Thomas J. Watson Foundation awards fellowships yearly to outstanding college seniors, supporting them for a year of independent study and travel abroad.