During my first visit to Berlin in recent weeks, and after wrapping up several work meetings, I found some time to explore different aspects of the city.
After touring some of Berlin’s famous historical and cultural landmarks, curiosity led me to search for Hitler’s final residence, the bunker where he spent his last days and ultimately took his life.
The site is unremarkable today, marked only by a modest sign revealing that the quiet residential buildings now standing there were once the epicenter of devastating plans, the very place where Hitler lived, died, and was buried in the final days of the war.
This bunker lies close to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, surrounded by other monuments and museums throughout the city. These sites are designed to ensure that memory remains vivid and unflinching, to prevent any romanticizing of the past or denial of its horrors. In a clear and sustained act of historical responsibility, modern Germany embraces a continuous process of acknowledging Nazi crimes, so that future generations never treat them as marginal events or forgettable footnotes.
Berlin’s memorials deliver a profound political and moral message: modern Germany has moved beyond its past by constantly confronting it. There is no denial, no deliberate forgetting, only a transparent, collective reckoning. This approach offers not only symbolic justice and respect for the victims of Nazi atrocities, but also reaffirms Germany’s commitment to values that oppose racism, dictatorship, and extremism.
Memorials are not merely museums or statues of historical figures; they are educational and cultural tools. They deliberately spotlight specific moments in the past to shape national memory in a way that promotes healing and helps citizens see themselves as part of a larger, shared narrative of sacrifice and resilience.
Berlin’s post-war transformation, successfully overcoming the trauma of its past to build a new future, offers a powerful example for reflection in our Arab societies. Many of our nations have endured years of destructive conflicts, civil wars, and sectarian violence. These were compounded by Israel’s escalation of regional instability, most recently through its genocidal war against the Palestinian people and attempts to forcibly displace them from their land.
Yet no matter how long wars rage, the guns will one day fall silent. When that moment arrives, we must be brave enough to ask ourselves: should the Arab world build monuments that glorify figures like Yahya Al-Sinwar or Hassan Nasrallah? Or will future generations see them the way Germany sees Hitler, as men who brought devastation to their nations?
Our Arab societies need to rethink their recent history in a way that enables us to build a better future, one that memorializes the victims of wars and conflicts, rather than endlessly recycling the forces that caused them.
Establishing a framework for shaping “Arab collective memory”, through museums, memorials, school curricula, films, books, and responsible political and public discourse, can help produce a unified Arab narrative. This narrative would explain the destruction our region has witnessed since the outbreak of the so-called “Arab Spring,” and offer not just symbolic justice for victims, but a foundation for future peace and a safeguard against repeating past mistakes.
Ragy Amer
Writer, academic, and radio presenter at Egyptian Radio. He is a media advisor to several leading Egyptian universities.
Author of several books, as well as hundreds of articles published in prominent Egyptian newspapers and magazines.
