September 11 is a date that means opposite things in different parts of the world: for some it is a day of mourning for the fallen, for others it is an occasion for nationwide celebration. This paradox is worth examining more closely, as it shows how differently societies deal with traumatic pasts.
When tragedy becomes a national day of remembrance
On September 11, 2001, in the United States, al-Qaeda militants hijacked four passenger planes, directing two of them into the towers of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. 2,977 people died. Every year at 8:46 in the morning — the moment of the first plane's impact — a minute of silence rings out across the country, flags are lowered to half-mast, and the names of all the victims are read near the memorial. This is one of the few days when American society, despite political divisions, demonstrates unity in mourning.
When defeat becomes a holiday
Catalonia chose a different model for dealing with the painful date. Its National Day — Diada — is based on the memory of Barcelona's fall on September 11, 1714, when the troops of Philip V of Bourbon captured the city after a long siege, and Catalans lost their autonomous institutions and own constitutions. It seemed like a classic date of national catastrophe. But today Diada is millions-strong marches, laying flowers at the monument to Rafael Casanova, and solemn events celebrating the revival of Catalan language and culture.
The Catalans turned the defeat of 1714 not into a reason for revenge, but into an annual reminder to themselves of why their own identity matters.
Ethiopia counts time differently
While the West commemorates tragedies, Ethiopia celebrates the New Year on September 11 — Enkutatash, which means "gift of jewels." According to the Ethiopian calendar, this is the day marking the end of the rainy season and the symbolic return of the Queen of Sheba from Jerusalem. Homes are decorated with yellow daisies — adey abeba — families gather at a festive table — no hint of mourning or political remembrance, only natural cycles and family celebration.
What these three dates have in common
The difference in how societies choose to treat September 11 is not a coincidence of the calendar, but an indicator of historical consciousness. Americans fixed the day as an unhealable wound that cannot be forgotten. Catalans transformed defeat into a resource for contemporary political struggle for independence. Ethiopians live according to their own calendar system, where this date has no intersection at all with Western tragedy or European history.
For Ukraine, this question is not abstract: after 2022, the country is also accumulating dates that will someday need to be integrated into the calendar — either as days of mourning or as days of revival. The question is only which example will prove closest — the American model of indelible memory or the Catalan tradition of transforming defeat into a point of growth.
