Category: Former camp

Sachsenhausen

At first glance, one could assume that this concrete slab would be a bench for tired visitors to sit on as they traverse the vast site of the former concentration camp of Sachsenhausen. However, in actuality, it is a grave marker for a mass killing site. You would think that while these people are getting a tour at the site, they must know what they are sitting on, but this is not necessarily true. The signage marking this site has worn off, leaving only the small English translation available. The structure itself is also quite similar in design to that of the actual benches at the site. And, as outside contractors, the tour guides are not associated with the Museum so we don’t know how much training and knowledge they hold. All of this is important in crafting the full story of these tourists, but if you did not dig deeper into the story, you could easily assume that this is simply an act of disrespect. The design of this particular space does not lend to informed reflection like the Sinti and Roma memorial, it works against the visitor in its design by almost disguising itself as a bench. The lack of signage is also an issue as even if a visitor tried to figure out what the structure was, it would not be easy for them to find out. 

Once a member of our group asked them to move, they stood up without a fuss, revealing that they themselves were Jewish visitors. With this discovery, we now have another set of questions. Does that then change the narrative? Do Jewish visitors get a different set of social rules when interacting with these places than non Jewish visitors? And if so why? How do you then police people’s behaviours if different people have different social rules for what is considered appropriate behaviour at these sites? And how does that play into our judgments of people’s actions? If you saw someone taking a selfie at a concentration camp, what would your reaction be if they were a concentration camp survivor or their descendant verse someone with no connection to the Holocaust? Is it possible to police that without assuming peoples ancestors and intentions?

Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum

It would be almost impossible to talk about Holocaust memorialization and visitor attitudes without talking about Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. It is hard to describe the emotional toll this space exudes, and while I always feel a little redundant when I say that I really hated being in this space, I was not expecting the visceral emotional reaction that I had. It was like my body reacted in isolation from my mind and even though I knew that this place did not pose me any danger, my body wanted to get me out of the space as fast as possible. This was something I had never experienced before, and even after a week in Berlin and having some level of preparation before coming to this site, I was completely overwhelmed.

People standing by the train car in Auschwitz-Birkenau

While I was waiting within the grounds of Auschwitz I, I observed the hundreds of other visitors at this site and wondered how I could ever judge them for their actions. The majority of the visitors that I saw were teenagers on school trips, and I was left wondering just how much they knew before coming to this site. I was struck by a memory I have of a history school trip I took in high school. Some of the students were in grade 8, and at that point in the Social Studies curriculum, they had not learned about World War Two yet. So here we are, outside of Amsterdam, at a Canadian Military Cemetery, and these children, who were not prepared in any way for what they were going to experience, just broke down. So then I look back to these students there at Auschwitz, a site that made me, a well informed academic breakdown, and I can’t imagine what they must be feeling. So when I see some teenagers fooling around with their friends, I don’t think of it as disrespectful, I think of it as a way of coping with this traumatic space. 

Płaszów

Monument to the Victims of Fascism in Krakow Soviet Era Monument in Płaszów

While photo might focus on the massive monument the Soviets put up at the site of the former concentration camp of Płaszów, this post is more concerned with the green space at the bottom of the image. The structure sits on top of a small hill, at the bottom of which is a mass grave. This mass grave, like most of the Płaszów site, is unmarked. Płaszów is a public park nowadays, with signage only being added in recent years to label and indicate the history of the space. When we visited the site, the only reason we knew that this space was the site of a mass grave is due to our guide telling us so. Because of this we know that there is a very slim chance that anyone visiting the site would know that this specific patch of green space sits on a mass grave and therefore we afford them more leeway in judging their behaviours. While it felt wrong to watch a man walk his dog over the mass grave, I could not blame him for his actions because I knew that it was unlikely he knew what the space was. Yet at other sites, many of which also lack proper signage, we assume that everyone is informed about the history and knows the proper social behaviour to follow in these spaces. As we saw with the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma, when sites are properly labelled and have clear boundaries, people are more able to interact with these spaces with intent and respect.