Eddie on coming to terms with the past

Eddie with his new friend Abongile

Throughout this trip I have taken note of how South Africa has rebuilt itself in the sense of forging a new identity on the back of institutionalised oppression.  I have quite an understanding of modern German politics and I have compared this recast to how the Federal Republic of Germany has come to terms with the past of the Third Reich and what it is today.  What is the past is our anchor as it is what we have matured from.  When our past is unfavourable for whatever reason we are put in a quandary as to how to react to those events.  To forget is to likely not learn from mistakes and possibly repeat; to acknowledge but glibly could disrespect and not afford proper attention; to incessantly recollect is to be cemented in the past and not look to the future.  This is quite the dilemma.  In Germany this is known as Vergangenheitsbewältigung (literally coming, or struggling with the past), which is a solidified tenet of popular culture.  Germans have to make the right balance between memorialising the terror of the Nazis and leading a normal life in the community of nations.  I have visited Dachau concentration camp, which acts primarily as a memorial to the Holocaust (contrasted with Auschwitz which acts as a museum to the Holocaust) and seen first hand how Germany struggles with regret, repugnance and the future.  Multiple monuments and plaques have been dedicated but the German government was at an impasse as to what to do with Adolf Hitler’s Bunker. Should it be reconstructed and to act as a tombstone to the millions murdered by Hitler, or would it attract neo-Nazis?  Robben Island dually acts as a museum, memorial and home to people.  It lives and breathes as a symbol of oppression and hope.  I believe it is of the vanguard of the South African recast.  However I was shocked that the site where human beings were traded is ‘remembered’ by a small elevation in the centre of a busy road.  This I feel reflects the neglected study of the slave trade between South Africa, India and Indonesia.  In Germany the Führerbunker is now a car park.  Nearby residents regularly encourage their dogs to relieve themselves on the area.  I have also learned that striking a balance is very difficult