Berlin unveils Holocaust memorial 

People walk between the pillars during the memorial's inauguration.

Berlin has unveiled a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust
, ending 17 years of charged debate over how Germany should remember
that grim period of its history.

In the heart of Berlin, near the Reichstag and Brandenburg gate,
Berlin's newest and most powerful reminder of the Final Solution will
ensure that no Jews murdered by the Third Reich are forgotten.

From outside, the 2,711 dark gray slabs form a gentle wave, ankle-high
in some places, designed to give visitors a sense of instability, a loss
of orientation.

While the memorial will be greeted by many Germans it may attract vandals
, said the politician who unveiled it Tuesday.

"I believe it will be accepted by the younger generation, but
surely not by everyone," Wolfgang Thierse, speaker of the Bundestag
parliament, told German radio, "There will be opposition,
indifference, denial."

But its Jewish American architect Peter Eisenman says even though the
memorial will be open around the clock
, he is not worried about graffiti.

The architect even opposed an official decision to coat the slabs
with a chemical making it easier to remove any tagging.

''I didn't want the graffiti coating,
because I think vandalism is an expression of the city. We have it in
American cities, and I think in a certain way it's positive. It's an
outlet," Eisenman says.

Under the memorial are the stories of holocaust victims, like the
Haberman family from the polish city of Borislaw.

Like tens of thousands of other Jews, mother Sala died in the Belzec
concentration camp.

The father Fischel and their children were sent to a labor camp, most
of them murdered. But one child, Sabina, survived.

Critics of the long-debated project say the memorial should be for
all victims of the Third Reich, not only Jews. But the designer
disagrees.

''They were the only people singled out
for extermination. There was a plan to exterminate the race,"
Eisenman says.

随着欧洲被害犹太人纪念碑群在柏林揭幕，关于德国应怎样铭记那段苦难历史的长达17年的争论也就此画下完美句号。

大屠杀纪念碑群位于柏林市中心，与德国联邦议院和勃兰登堡门近在咫尺，这座纪念纳粹灭绝犹太人历史的最新且最具影响力的建筑物将铭记每一位被德国纳粹屠杀的犹太人。

从外观来看，纪念碑群由2711根长短不一的灰色碑柱组成，从远处望去，黑灰色的石碑如同一片波涛起伏的石林，让游客不由自主产生一种不稳定的、迷失方向的感觉。

本周二参加揭幕仪式的政治家们担心，纪念碑群向公众开放后，会招致某些德国人的蓄意破坏。

德国联邦议院发言人沃尔夫冈·蒂尔泽向德国电台表示，“我认为年轻一代的德国人会接受它，但并不是每个人都会。肯定会遭到某些人的反对、质疑或否定。”

不过，该纪念碑群的犹太裔美国建筑设计师彼得·艾森曼指出，即便纪念碑群全天候对游客开放，他也不担心有人在碑柱上涂抹乱画。

艾森曼甚至不赞成政府出台的保护措施，即在碑柱外涂上一种化学物质，这样可以比较容易擦去人们在碑柱上涂写的字画。

艾森曼表示：“我不想掩饰那些涂鸦，因为我认为这是对城市的一种情感表达方式。在美国这是允许的，而且我认为，从某种角度来看，它也有积极的一面。涂鸦是一种情感宣泄的方式。”

纪念碑群的下面是地下档案展览馆，收藏着当年惨遭纳粹屠杀的死难者们的故事，来自波兰城市鲍里斯罗的哈伯曼一家就是当年的受害者。

与其他数十万犹太人一样，母亲萨拉在贝尔泽克集中营殉难。

父亲费舍尔和他的孩子们被送到劳动营，他们大都被杀害了，只有一个孩子萨拜娜幸存下来。

一些批评家认为，该纪念碑群应当为被纳粹屠杀的所有死难者建立，而不只是其中的犹太人。但设计师并不同意这种看法。

艾森曼说：“纳粹只选择灭绝犹太人。纳粹曾计划把犹太种族消灭干净。”