Yael Bartana's 'Malka Germania' Film Confronts Holocaust Memory in Berlin Retrospective

Yael Bartana's video installation, Malka Germania (2021), showcases an alternate Berlin where Hebrew signage replaces German, and the Israel Defense Forces parade through famous sites. Created for Berlin's Jewish Museum, the film focuses on the Wannsee beach resort, the location of the 1942 conference led by Reinhard Heydrich to devise the Jewish genocide. An androgynous messianic figure observes this reimagined world while contemporary Berliners gather at a station reminiscent of Platform 17 at Grunewald, a key deportation hub. The work includes scenes of symbolic destruction, with items like a beer stein and a portrait of Martin Luther (1533) being tossed from windows. Three spectral maidens from the Nazi Kraft durch Freude organization perform in a forest, striking swastika-like poses. Albert Speer's Germania model rises from the waters of Wannsee in its intended scale. The film's sound design incorporates sirens, ringing bells, barking dogs, and a somber camel walking along train tracks. Bartana's exhibition at the Jewish Museum Berlin runs from 4 June to 21 November 2021, featuring over 50 pieces. This exhibition coincides with German elections, showcasing neo-Nazi National Democratic Party posters and renovations of the KdF site at Prora. Malka Germania is described by the artist as a 'weapon of vengeance' against efforts to erase Germany's historical transgressions.