ANNE FRANK AT THE MALL

Would you like a little historical reflection on Nazi persecution of the Jews to go with that set of hand-blown martini glasses from Crate and Barrel?

Montgomery Mall in lovely Bethesda, Maryland (where I went this weekend to spend some time with Anita -- fun weekend, by the way!) has a travelling exhibit on Anne Frank. As you leave Hecht's (I think) and enter the mall area, you're greeted by a video screen with the famous picture of a smiling Anne Frank. In the center of the mall, where in a few weeks they'll set up Santa's playland, if I'm not mistaken, you can encounter a tasteful and informative bilingual exhibit on Anne Frank.

I didn't study the exhibit. We were shopping. In fact, I was looking for a nice floral print shirt (didn't find one; flowers aren't part of the seasonal patterns this year, apparently).

Serious reflection on history is critical, and my comments are not meant to reject the implicit claim that such reflection is necessary in order to remain human. Unfortunately, I think that this kind of exhibit, while well meaning, verges on being a trivialization of the holocaust.

I understand that the mall is the "new town square," and that it is a good idea to encounter people where they are, not where you'd like them to be.

Still, the mall is a strange forum because unlike the town squares of old, it is too single-mindedly devoted to the fact of consumption to serve serious purposes without distorting those purposes.