Die polnische Erinnerung an Auschwitz
am Beispiel des Staatlichen Museums Auschwitz-Birkenau
Description:... Discusses official Polish commemoration of the Holocaust, as organized in the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Points out the paradox that Poland, through the fact that Nazi concentration camps were situated on its ground, was predestined for the role of witness, but in fact, until the mid-1980s, the topic remained surrounded by a zone of silence. The annihilation of European Jewry was not mentioned in official publications; this "blind spot" in commemoration was reflected also in the conception of the museum, emphasizing the commemoration of Polish and other victims. In 1968 a "Jewish exhibition" was established in one of the former blocs for prisoners in Auschwitz, while the relics of the Jewish experience - gas chambers, ramps, crematoria - are situated in Birkenau, four kilometers away. In 1978 another Jewish exhibition was set up which represents a compromise between Polish and Jewish commemoration; however, Polish rescue of Jews is much accentuated, while the issue of collaboration is barely mentioned.
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