The Trouble With Auschwitz

I knew that visiting Auschwitz I would be extremely difficult, and it was, for reasons unlike any I had expected.  This place, the largest of all Nazi camps, where Mengele executed his horrible medical experiments –where many died after only weeks, is now a tourist destination.  As soon as we got there I was shocked.  There were people everywhere.  I felt like I was at some amusement park, not at the most well-known and notorious Nazi concentration camp.  When we finally entered the camp, we quickly moved along with our tour guide to different points of interest that were mapped out beforehand, being corralled through the barracks (which now hold exhibits) with hundreds of other visitors. It was almost impossible to register anything that we were seeing or what our guide was telling us, because of the sheer number of people jammed in there with us.

cans of Zyklon B

In the afternoon, we were split into groups so we could explore the exhibits that were not on the main tour.  All of us went to the Roma/Sinti exhibit, and my group was assigned to the French and Belgian exhibits.  These were vastly less crowded (at some points, we were literally the only people inside), which made it easier to navigate and to absorb information.  The exhibitions were really powerful, and I could have easily spent hours in each one.  Unfortunately, none of these are destinations on the standard tour, so very few people see them. This is a good thing for the people that do choose to go out of their way, because it’s much less hectic, but it’s a shame that hardly anyone gets to see these carefully thought out and informative exhibitions.

outside of Block 10, where medical experiments were performed

I think this happens for two reasons.  One, because the Auschwitz Museum doesn’t advertise these exhibits well enough, and two, because people don’t really care about them enough to seek them out.  One theme that came up a lot in our class’s discussions was the idea of separating communities of memory, so that people only have to remember or pay homage to what/who they want to.  This is fairly common, but I was sad to see it in a place such as Auschwitz.  Jody Russell Manning recalls an instance of confrontation of two different communities of memory in his essay “The Palimpsest of Memory: Auschwitz and Oswiecim”: “… a Polish guide explained that this was their profession to inform groups about the entire history of Auschwitz– stressing that they should be allowed to speak during the Israeli group’s visit– one fed-up Israeli participant stood up and stated: ‘We do not care about the Poles.  I have no interest in what happened to the Polish population.  My grandmother was murdered here.’  The dialogue stopped and the room filled with silence… This revelation during discussion– where memories of the same or similar occurrence had created fundamentally different and conflicting memories for Poles and Israelis– exposed how commonality may exist, but no palimpsest of memory equals another.”

the “Wall of Death” where many executions took place

Here, Manning is correct in acknowledging both the Polish and Israeli viewpoints, by recognizing that their palimpsests of memory will be different, because each of their experiences is different.  But does that mean that we should be allowed to ignore the parts of Auschwitz that “don’t apply” to us or make us uncomfortable?  The events that happened there are upsetting; we shouldn’t expect an easy experience.  This icon of the Shoah should be more aggressive with visitors by insisting they not only learn the main points, but that they should care about everyone involved, so they can actually personalize the tragedy and remember actively. It’s important to push people out of their comfort zones, out of their communities of memory, and not coddle them.  Auschwitz is a place teeming with memory and endless opportunities to learn and to have a meaningful experience. A wise Polish professor said, “The Holocaust is a good thing to think with,” and we are not allowing people to think with the Holocaust if we let them remember only what they want to remember.