President visits Holocaust Memorial & Jewish Museum
Posted by Editor on February 17, 2016 - 6:41 am
President Maithripala Sirisena who arrived in Berlin yesterday morning (Feb. 16) visited the Holocaust Memorial and the Jewish museum in the evening.
The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin has been built to memorize the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. This, which has been designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold holds the names of approximately 3 million Jewish Holocaust victims.
The Building began on April 1, 2003, and was finished on December 15, 2004. It was inaugurated on May 10, 2005, sixty years after the end of World War II, and opened to the public two days later.
Ministers Ravi Karunanayake, Daya Gamage, Malik Samarawickrama and Mahinda Samarasinge also joined the President in this visit.
(President’s Media)
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Since 1948, Sri Lanka has lost approximately 500,00 to 1,000, 000 civilian and forces citizens in multiple events.
These events comprise communal uprisings in 1957, 1977, 1983 and JVP uprising in 1971. In addition, we have been through 2 civil wars, in the 80’s caused by JVP insurgency and from 1983-2009 caused bthe LTTE uprising.
Asd part of the national recocilliation process, I suggest we build a memorial for all those citizens who lost their lives, irrespective of which party to the confilict they belonged to. This memorial could be similar to the Holocaust Museum.
Names of all persons who lost their lives should be embedded in the museum structure should be on equal sized brass or chrome plates, names only, location and year born and year passed away.
We could then get rid of the crow-shit laden statues that we have erected at random locations to celebrate the lives of ‘patriots’ who lost their lives. The museum will demonstrate equality of lives; it doesn’t matter whether the person was Leader, Cabinet Minister or a civilian mother or a Sinhala Buddhist soldier or a Tamil LTTE recruit; they are all citizens of our land.
I am sure the President took photographs of the Holocaust Museum which will help in shaping the concept of our own museum. The hangers-on (4 Cabinet Ministers) who accompanied the President are advised to make their own photographs and pen their ideas which should be transmitted to the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms upon return.
30 years old war, merely 7 years after the victory.
Thousands of war heroes got killed, thousand got disabled, thousands of children lost their fathers or, mothers. Mothers lost their sons, many got widows. Some are still looking after disabled.
They all sacrificed in order to save the country, they carried out the orders given by the chief of forces and the chief of the country.
I wonder how many times he visited any family or cemetery or war heroes memorial in Sri lanka?
Many will show their colours to others, by forgetting your own.
Is this the pride we have?
@Eng P Maheswaran,
I’m not sure that you are aware if anyone who took upper hand against any government or forces are called as ‘Terrorists’.
Those who took arms, weapons and fought or struggle against the government are ‘Terrorists’.
They might belong to same country or same land but when they fight against the own country forces, they are no longer call as ‘Patriots’.
Even it’s LTTE or JVP, we name them as ‘Terrorists’.
Building a memorial for Terrorists, no way.
Don’t try to seek opportunities and use against weak parties or leaders.
Building a memorial for true patriots , YES we are with you.
Nice to see the chief in shirt and trousers, a very rare sight!
Engineer P Maheswaran, you are spot on. All debacle due to supremist policy since independence. Kicking and screaming the true facts are being accepted now in this blog. A year ago I would have been called a traitor, tiger sympathiser or a tamil disguising as a sinhalese.
Manjula especially has to be told repeatedly that things are changing and that there are no traitors. She seems to be an armchair commentator from her plush Aussie hidout!
Dear Niyamasinhalaya,
Thanks you for your response.
The word “terrorist” was made up by the dumbest, stupid President of the United Stated states, George W Bush.
I will not comment on the LTTE uprising because I am a Tamil and I will be accused of bias.
But the JVP uprising led by Rohana was a true uprising against oppression of the working class which even exist to this day in our beloved land.
I was a strong JVP’er who was incarcerated because of of my belief in”Api Yanne Koi Parey, Che Guevara Yana Parey”. Do you classify JVP’ers as “Terrorists”?
They are national heroes who rose against oppression of the working class by the bourgeois.
Of course, current leaders including Anura Kumara will not understand because when JVP took to the streets in 1971, AKD was a suckling baby.
@Eng P Maheswaran,
I’m a Sinhalese and I don’t have any issues with Tamils. May be I have more Tamil friends than Sinhalese. 🙂
JVPeers are terrorists, I can say it clearly due to the fact we all know about 88-89 incidents.
They killed many prominent figures in the country. They put the country in a dark side for more than 2 years.
Many of innocent girls and boys had to flee their houses to avoid being targeted as a JVPeer.
I have my own experience on that too. We lost school days, lost parents.
LTTE no doubt world renown terrorists, endorsed by FBI as on top of their list.
They are not freedom fighters.
Sri lanka is a country having majority Sinhalese, so the ruling should be done by them.
I hope you don’t have any doubt with that.
If any, you can see examples from countries like Malaysia or USA.
They have others, but with Single national rules.
Malaysia has many Tamils (1.3 mil), yet they don’t recognize their language in the national list.
USA has many ethnic groups, do they have any separate recognitions?
Tamilnadu has 72million, is Indian state government has separate anthem for them?
Why all are looking at Sri lanka?
Because, Sinhalese are idiots. They forget everything in 2 weeks.
Not all sinhalese are idiots. Since independence successive governments failed to address the issues of the rural populations. They live on subsistence agriculture the quality of education is substandard, health services non existence. This is called deprivation. The government sells poverty along with NGO’s the Government is no more sustainable than the NGO
After more than a year the government has failed to come up with a policy a policy that is viable. Ranil dreams of the 50 billion dollar in 5 years based on exports. We dont have the raw materials to develop an inductry that is viable for we have to be dependent on the import of raw materials and as the rupee deperiates we have to spend more on the imports and we get less for our exports and the industries are uneconomic.
The legislature is stacked with lawyers and they can talk but nothing meaningful! They are sterile of ideas clueless of as to how the economy works and how it could be made to work. To get anything going they need to collect basic data based on that decide on the priorities and frame the objectives collectively.
Udu,
Contrary to what you claim, there are plenty of traitors around. Take a good honest picture of your “chief” (not mine) for a moment. He was a great example of a “traitor”.
If you think there are no traitors then you may suggest to take the word “traitor” off the dictionaries around the world. Good luck !
You don’t have to tell me that things have changed. Of course it has, but not for good in my opinion.
Terrorists think they do the right thing and no way you can change their way of thinking. Same way you can start thinking the way you like, but doesn’t mean everyone in the world will agree with you. Only mental patients and the weak people will throw names at those people who don’t agree with their opinions, because they don’t have any facts to argue back, so they go for the lowest level mud slinging using name calling and similar other side-hitting.
Have I become a strong enough enemy for you to get irritated even with my comments here? I didn’t mean to but sorry if that happened to you. Just read and ignore without getting irritated. Wish you get well soon.
Well, ‘Traitors’ are those who come to power promising everything under the sun and the moon. After coming to power betray the voters. There is no CHANGE. Nepotism is still there: 1. HE. the president allowed his brother to be the Chairman of TELICOM; 2. Arjuna became a minister and allowed his brother to be Chairman in the port; 3. HE the PM is showing Cricket in his brother’s TNL Channel. Business As Usual.