Zerkaleva Alexandra Author

September 11, the Holocaust, the Gulag, Chernobyl and other tragedies of the last two centuries, which became reasons for the opening of museums

On May 21, 2014, the 9/11 Memorial Museum opens to visitors in New York. The complex became available to relatives of those killed during the New York terrorist attacks in 2001 a week earlier and has already caused several scandals. Some families of the victims, for example, opposed the fact that unidentified remains were taken to a special underground storage facility next to the museum halls on the eve of the opening.

Protests were also caused by the opening of a cafe and souvenir shop at the museum. Many victims said that the bench at the memorial is a way to profit from someone else’s grief, and they do not want the death of their relatives to become a way for someone else to make money. Nevertheless, the store (including its online version ) continues to function. It sells T-shirts, hoodies and baseball caps with prints of the Twin Towers and commemorative inscriptions, pins, mugs, keychains and even stuffed animals depicting dogs that took part in search and rescue operations in September 2001.

Some representatives of the families of the victims said in interviews with Western media (in particular, The New York Times ) that they do not need public exhibitions to remember their personal grief. The museum's founders, however, believe that for visitors not directly involved in the 9/11 tragedy, a visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum can provide "a deeper understanding of what makes up the best of humanity."

Forbes recalled eight more museums dedicated to tragedies and disasters, and found out how they work today.