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tional site coupled with the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) indicatesa paradigm shift in the German culture of remembrance that I havenot experienced in the past. I can only caution us against erecting nationalmemorials as they did in Communist East Germany (GDR), only with theopposite political intent.”In response to Professor Endlich’s question about how much the informationalsite located beneath the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europewould direct visitors to other memorials and authentic sites, ProfessorMorsch said that what is called ‘The Portal’ to the best of his knowledgefunctions inadequately because locations can only be called up on the computerterminals.Professor Morsch: “In the past, there were other proposals. Stih andSchnock’s ‘bus stop’, for example, was really appropriate for creating a networkof sites. There are also directories dealing with other groups of victims– but due to the demands of brevity of information they are located in thefoyer area.The true problem is, however, how many of the 600 thousand to 700 thousandpeople who visit the Field of Stelae and informational site annually willunderstand they are visiting a memorial – the inscription of which is writlarge – and not a documentary centre dedicated to the mastery of its subject.If the majority comes away thinking that they know all there is to knowabout the past, demands for a Holocaust museum will be quickly formulated.This will lead to a further dismantling of the German culture of remembrance,which is characterized by grassroots and initiative-oriented workshopsdedicated to history. It will be aimed at canonization and expropriationof German history by blending it with the history of Stalinism, the historyof the expulsion of Germans from the former territory of the Reich, andother systems of terror.”Dr. Wolf Kaiser, the Deputy Head of the Memorial and Educational CentreHouse of the Wannsee Conference, ascertained that distributing informationis not the purpose of a memorial.Dr. Kaiser: “A memorial can prompt reflections, it can trigger feelings, but Ido not believe it is particularly suited to convey knowledge. In my opinion,this is true even when we include memorials that provide numerous facts,such as – for example, The Memorial at Grunewald Train Station ‘Platform17’, which displays a long series of deportation statistics with the number ofdeportees who departed from this station. These data are facts, and as faras they are coupled with artistic work – art and information in one. But theinformation is only effective if it overlays a foundation of knowledge aboutwhat the deportations actually meant. The uninformed understand little. Sowe seek out memorials connected to the content of our seminars – take, forexample, the organization of deportations – and visit them with the participants.This method is tried-and-true. Participants interpret it as an importantpart of the seminar’s whole, as another form of discourse. But the visits arebest scheduled on the third day, rather than at the outset of the seminar.The memorial functions against a backdrop of imparted knowledge. Thisapplies to international groups, too. Of course, it’s also imaginable that thememorial raises questions to be answered elsewhere or which spark aneed for information. This process does not occur on the basis of a cleanslate.”116