Georges Didi-Huberman, in his book Images In Spite of All, referred to several photographs performed in secret by prisoners with a photo camera smuggled to the camp: “Let us not refer […] to the unimaginable. It was so much harder for prisoners to steal from the camps the tiny fragments that we store now, hardly bearing their load with one look. These tiny fragments are for us more precious and less comforting than any possible work of art, as they were thus torn from the world that had wanted to discontinue their existence”. This thought can be referred to all items which survived and bear dramatic witness of the crime and the authors assigned particular significance to them.
Central part of the exposition is constituted by a 25-meter displace case. Behind the glass, in its milk-white interior that resembles a laboratory, over 700 items were collected. They are among others the accessories that used to belong to the victims: jewellery, keys, glasses, clothes fragments, stationery. Some of them – for example an enamelled plate with the mark including Sara Mock-Hakker’s personal details or a triangular label with a name and best wishes written on it – can be assigned to specific persons, but the majority form the archive of anonymous proofs of death.
The items were arranged in sequences according to their meaning. They correspond to the stages of passing through the camp – from the arrival until death – and present the fate of their owners in a symbolical way, forming parallel narration, making it possible for the visitor to face the dualism of the Shoah: its unimaginable mass scale and individual experience of death. Their combination is overwhelming – they are like tombstones on a nearby clearing representing the multitude of victims. But they can all be studied individually as well – a meaningful detail motivates the imagination to work and in this little fragment, it makes us feel the depth of individual tragedy. Such direct, even personal contact is made possible in particular through the artifacts placed in separate small cabinets inserted in walls – a watch with its hands that stopped, child’s toy, a ring. As written by Tomasz Kranz, “by being the proofs of death, they remind us of life”. This human dimension of the exhibition seems the most important.
Another important aspect of the exhibition consists in the reconstruction, as faithful as possible, of historical camp space. The model, constructed as a result of the laborious work of historians and archaeologists, reconstructs the topography of the site and ensures the feeling of tangible contact with the past. It was developed not only basing on excavations and historical photographs, but also on the plans sketched by survivors and SS officers questioned during investigations.
The architecture and scenography of the exhibition refer in some points to the historical arrangement of the camp – the structure resembling a railway ramp or room with its walls panelled with charred wood creates the atmosphere, emphasize the content and message. It is worth to mention here the authentic artifacts: barrack walls or tree trunks with ingrown barbed wire – living symbols of the tragic past.