Confederate War memorials commemorate man’s inhumanity to man

The current furor over Confederate war memorials reminds me that, in 1986, I visited what has to be one of the world's most upsetting war memorials, the Dachau concentration camp near Munich, Germany.

The existence of Dachau as a memorial and museum makes a powerful statement that was well expressed by the largest sign on the premises. The sign quoted George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

It occurs to me that a sign or plaque with that quote could simply be placed on all war memorials. There would then be no need to move or destroy any of them. They all commemorate a failure of diplomacy and man's inhumanity to man. That's what should be remembered.

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Confederate War memorials commemorate man’s inhumanity to man."