in the crematoria, sketches drawn by victims and survivors, photographs taken before the war but carried into Auschwitz amongst victim’s possessions, and even photographs from the Höcker Album, discovered in 2007, showing SS officers and the Auschwitz staff relaxing at a resort just 30 km south of Auschwitz. “Seeing” these images differently provoke visitors to wonder; are they people just like us?
At the end of our tours, guides asked student groups to select only three images from Seeing Auschwitz for their own imagined mini exhibition. They were asked to think about why they chose these photographs or sketches and how they would display them. This activity allowed the learners to creatively engage with the information they had spent an hour or so unfolding. Whether the images would be displayed in a moving train, projected on the walls of their school or their own image mirrored in a “mug shot”, the understanding of breaking the photographers gaze and not taking images at face value had clearly been understood.
The engagement with the guided tours of the exhibition and feedback that we received convinced JHGC educators that learners in South Africa were able to connect to the personal stories and different perspectives that make up the complex history of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The experience provided opportunities to deepen their understanding of events, to connect to the human narrative, to complicate their understanding of the roles of victim and perpetrator and to honour and remember the individual victims who were murdered at Auschwitz. This quote, from a 13 year old learner, describes the power of approaching these topics in a multidirectional way that encourages connection and dialogue:
“Thank you for helping me discover a part of myself I never knew I had. I leave this space a young educated black women who wants to change the world into a better place. More people need to be taught about this because it’s a part of us and not knowing is like not knowing a part of yourself.”
We have been honoured to host this unique and world renowned exhibition. The exhibition will open at the Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre on 23 April 2023 and at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre in September 2023. For more information about the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre and the work that we do in Southern Africa, check out our website and social media pages: https://www.jhbholocaust.co.za/