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Good evening ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the JWCS study day. In English we have been studying History and Memory. This speech will be based around the topic, “History, without memory is merely a collection of facts, and consequently without real meaning in our world.” In our main text that we have been studying, “The Fiftieth Gate”, the relationship between history and memory comes through clearly. “The town hall. The church. Here. Right her, my god. My god, not a thing”.p.45 “See, I remember. We were here. Carla lived here, and so we lived, one, two, three, here.”p.45 These quotes are reflections of Baker’s mother’s memories. Physically being in the place where events have taken place brings memories back for her. She has a flood of memories as she visits her home town. Only things have changed, which means as she compares contrasts, more memories flow. The quote, “Memory records but also composes history”, gives good contrast between the relationship history and memory hold. Most history is some form of memory but there is no absolute history, it is written from personal experiences or memories and therefore creates some bias. All memories are different and unique for each individual. Memories recall and retell history, history inturn is the general agreement of memories. History has been formed from what people have seen or heard and then retold or passed on to younger generations. It’s their composition of the events and happenings. Mark Baker’s history comes from his parent’s memories. Some memories we can choose to black out and try to forget, it’s how humans cope with it. It is understandable for some one who has survived through such atrocities that the holocaust has brought about to want to forget about and block out bad memories.
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