This chapter critically examines the concept of counter-monuments dedicated to victims. Beginning with the German experience of Holocaust memorials, it expands to consider comparable examples across Europe and Latin America. It contrasts the growing prevalence of monuments for victimised or subaltern groups with the persistent construction of traditional monuments that celebrate the old ruling classes. To develop a critical framework, the chapter draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of the ‘field’ and Louis Althusser’s concept of the ideological superstructure, situating these monuments within broader modes of production. The analysis posits that counter-monuments function as instruments of the dominant ideology, serving the interests of the ruling classes by perpetuating the victimhood of those they memorialise. Through what the chapter terms an ‘aesthetic trap’, these monuments relegate the commemorated individuals or groups to the status of subaltern subjects, reinforcing their subjugation within the symbolic and ideological order.