The difficult task of memorializing loss from conflict and violence

A ceremony was held in the US earlier this month to dedicate the Flight 93 National Memorial — a monument featuring large wind chimes that represent the voices of the 40 passengers and crew aboard a flight hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001. The people on the plane rose up against the hijackers, saving others at the intended target site but dying themselves when the plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

The 17^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks put a spotlight on the ways that Americans have chosen to remember those who died in the attacks and the broader impacts of that day. The effective headquarters of remembrance is the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City: A huge memorial designed to remember and honor all those killed in the 9/11 attacks in New York, the Pentagon and the hijacked planes. The memorial features pools and waterfalls marking the footprints of the Twin Towers, the engraved names of those who died, the “Survivor Tree” that represents how life continues, and a museum dedicated to teaching current and future generations about what happened and its impact. There is also the Flight 93 memorial and a memorial by the Pentagon dedicated to those who died there.

The way that nations and communities choose to remember a history of violence or conflict reveals much about who are we are as human beings and our cultures. Memorials to those who died due to terrorism, war, slavery or other forms of violence can have multiple purposes. Some are designed to remember and honor those who died and to recognize the pain felt by their loved ones. Examples include the 9/11 memorials and other memorials to those killed in terrorist attacks, such as the 7 July Memorial in London commemorating those killed in the 2005 terrorist attack, and the memorial in Amman to those killed in the 2005 hotel bombings.

Some try to teach lessons learned from conflict and history, in the hope that such terrible things will not happen again. Many memorials include museums or educational exhibits for this reason, including many of the Holocaust memorials in Europe and elsewhere, the 9/11 museum in New York and the new memorial and museum in Alabama dedicated to victims of lynching. Websites offer modern spaces for memorials to expand educational outreach.

Some memorials seek to bring communities together, to promote healing and foster reconciliation. The Beit Beirut museum and cultural center, for example, tries to provide a space for Lebanese to learn about the civil war and discuss what it means to them.

Of course, some memorials — especially many war memorials — have less noble ambitions. Some seek to impose the chosen narrative of one side in a conflict. Many war museums provide selective narratives that minimize atrocities or mistakes, glorify victories and depict a close relationship between a successful military and a ruling power.

Some memorials feel more malicious, seeking to demonstrate one group’s power over others. The Valley of the Fallen in Spain, for example, was constructed so that former ruler Francisco Franco could appear to rule over the bodies of his enemies and allies in death as well as in life.

Memorials use spaces in different ways that reflect their intended purpose and surrounding culture. Beit Beirut and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan preserve ruined buildings as a reminder of war. The 9/11 Memorial in New York emphasizes the footprints of destroyed buildings, and the memorial at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany preserves the outlines of barracks, into which prisoners were packed. Some memorialize events that did not involve iconic buildings or are located in more remote locations and must use art and creativity to evoke the sense that something tragic and important happened; the Flight 93 memorial in Pennsylvania being one example. Many memorials are placed within cemeteries where soldiers or other victims of violence are buried.

While some memorials are more like monuments to war and power, many present more nuanced depictions of conflict, loss, responsibility and resilience. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington is a famous example of such an approach, with the simple listing of names of American soldiers who died in the war engraved on stone that reflects the faces of the visitors.

Individuals react differently to suffering and loss, with some preferring to forget, some to remember and some to cling to a selective story. For this reason, and natural differences in aesthetic views, all memorials will be somewhat controversial. However, when innovative, nuanced design comes together with a thoughtful purpose to remember those who died and to learn lessons from tragedy, memorials can serve as beautiful representations of how a community tries to recover from grief.

• Kerry Boyd Anderson is a writer and political risk consultant with more than 14 years’ experience as a professional analyst of international security issues and Middle East political and business risk. Twitter: @KBAresearch