NPS Website
WHAT IS IT?An 11-piece metal statue that memorializes American athlete David Berger and serves as a reminder of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games violence.
BEAUTY (2/10)
The statue is nice enough. It consists of ten half circles and a platform base. The circles are the five Olympic Rings severed in half. They also symbolize the ten murdered Israeli athletes. The halved rings face upward, denoting the hope for a peaceful future. David Berger was the eleventh athlete and he is represented by the statue’s platform.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (1/10)
We should never forget David Berger’s death and the violence at the Munich Olympics especially given the upcoming 2004 Athens Summer Games and the increased fear of terrorism. At the same time, nothing happened in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
CROWDS (5/10)
No one was at the Cleveland Heights Jewish Community Center for the sole purpose of viewing the statue except us. We are not sure when the last time anyone came to see only the statue. It had been at least a year since their National Parks Service Passport cancellation stamp had been used. In fact, the lady at the front desk had to retrieve it from inside a cardboard box that was pushed to the back of a desk drawer.
The only crowd we faced was a line up of cars with parents waiting to pick up their children from Russian class. The JCC is so crowded that it will be moving to a new, larger building in the near future. There is no word on what will become of the David Berger Statue. Presumably, it will move to the new building site.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (2/5)
The statue stands in front of the Cleveland Heights JCC at 3505 Mayfield Road, a busy suburban Cleveland commercial artery. There are no NPS signs and no Site markings. Thousands drive past the statue every day but few actually stop and look.
CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (1/5)
None.
COSTS (4/5)
Free.
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (1/5)
No Rangers. The National Park Service considers the David Berger National Memorial to be an affiliated area, meaning that someone else is in charge of the Site.
We have been to four other Affiliated Areas: Benjamin Franklin NMEM (run by the Franklin Institute), Gloria Del Church NHS (run by the Church itself), the Roosevelt Campobello International Park (run by the Canadian National Park System) and the Touro Synagogue NHS (run by the Synagogue). We did not rate the last two because they were not open yet to visitors.
TOURS/CLASSES (1/10)
None. The front desk at the JCC distributes a one-page mimeographed explanation. We had seen numerous short films elsewhere about the Munich violence. As a result, we were familiar with the history. The video of the incident is haunting, disturbing, and etched in the memory of most Americans. We can only hope that history will not repeat itself in Athens. David Berger’s story is inspirational. He was a normal man who, through force of will, became an Olympian.
FUN (1/10)
Not exactly.
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (1/10)
If you leave nearby, as in the Cleveland suburbs, drive slower next time your speeding down Mayfield Road and have a look. If you don’t live nearby watch the HBO documentary or pay attention this summer when the David Berger and the other athletes are remembered during the NBC Olympic broadcast.
TOTAL 19/80
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