A monument 17 years in the making officially opened Tuesday in the heart of Berlin. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe -- a city block of blank gray concrete slabs or pillars erected near the German Parliament building -- drew predictably mixed responses. Yet, by all accounts, its American architect, Peter Eisenman, has come as close as is humanly possible to hitting the right note, with a design that is stark, startling and, most impressively, wordless.
All memorial builders face the challenge of trying to offend as few and to placate as many people as possible. But the task is twice as hard when the event being remembered still causes feelings to run high.
To grasp the delicacy of Mr. Eisenman's assignment, try to imagine being commissioned to design a memorial in Tokyo to Asian victims of Imperial Japan. It would be like navigating a mine field, as it was in Berlin. Objections to the memorial project were voiced at every stage and from every possible angle, almost derailing it several times. At least two earlier designs were rejected.