This March break, 11 students and two faculty members are traveling to Berlin, Prague, and Krakow to explore the idea of monuments and memorials and their role in public memory, and learn more about the Holocaust and how Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Poland responded in the late 20th century and early 21st century to the study of Holocaust memory, public art, and their fusion in contemporary life. Please enjoy the blog post below from Andrew ’27 as he shares about the groups trip to the Museum of Fine Arts & Holocaust Memorial in Boston, MA before they departed on their flight to Berlin
Out of all the eye-catching displays in the Intentional Beauty exhibit in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, a gargush—a decorated Yemenite Jewish headdress—caught my eye. Like the elaborately ornate Torah and other Judaica exhibits in the room, the gargush is beset with intricate aesthetic designs; silver chains, breaded threads, and gold coins permeate the headwear. Unlike the Torah, however, the gargush was designed to be functional—the woman in possession of the gargush could sell the gold coins on it in times of need.
As we start to dive into the heavy subject of the Holocaust, much attention has been granted to the political environment leading up to and during the persecution of European Jewry. But the MFA display reminds us of a crucial nuance: that anti-semitism had long existed in Europe. Artifacts like the gargush tell the tale of a people that faced constant persecution and how they have ingeniously adapted to the unpredictabilities. Thus, the Holocaust could not be viewed as a discrete tragedy; it is the culmination of millenniums of hatred and violence.
