Walking and Remembering: The Ghetto in the Cityscape of Minsk

• In Event: Counter-Monuments, Poetic Myth, and Coal: New Vantage Points on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe

Abstract

The theoretical framework of this presentation is based on J. Young’s (1992) concept of the "counter-monument." Unlike traditional solid, immobile, and territorially localized monuments, counter-monuments differentiate themselves through their dispersed, performative, and participatory nature. These monuments often commemorate traumatic events deliberately silenced and excluded from the dominant collective memory.
The author's field research focuses on preserving the memory of the Jewish ghetto in the cityscape of Minsk, Belarus. In large cities, commemoration necessarily encompasses vast territories that undergo massive reconstructions and population migrations. This underscores the importance of material memorial signs. However, the topic of the Holocaust clashes with the dominant historical narrative depicting Belarus as a 'partisan republic.'
While the existence of the ghetto is not silenced, its memory is not clearly integrated into the cityscape. The ghetto area underwent renovation, with most streets renamed (none in memory of the ghetto), and memorial signs scattered across a vast territory, lacking a concise memorial route. Some signs contribute to oblivion, such as a plaque commemorating a specific part of the ghetto where Jews from Europe were interned. There are no specific signs indicating the location of important buildings or the gallows. The memory of the resistance movement is almost excluded from the cityscape.
To restore the ghetto's space in one's memory, visitors must use its old map overlaying it onto the modern cityscape. This practice requires active interaction with memorial sites, transforming them into a 'walking monument' (T. Schult), and turning movement through the former ghetto into a counter-monumental practice.

Author

• Anastasia Mitrofanova