Former entrance of the extermination camp of Aus-
chwitz-Birkenau | EUROM
important. Do we know for sure how different the
January attendance numbers are from the May
knowledge of the visitors is fragmentary).
The booking system can be of great help here.
numbers, or from the numbers in August in the Due to the large number of visitors, the Auschwitz-
summer? How many of our visitors are young Birkenau Memorial was obliged to create such a
people, high school students brought by teachers? system. Over the last decade or so, the number of
This question will allow us to answer another one: is visitors has increased four times, exceeding two
our cooperation with teachers good enough to make million people a year. For the safety of both the
them understand the meaning of a visit of this kind, monuments and the visitors, as well as for their
and to prepare their students appropriately? What basic comfort, there is an hourly maximum limit of
percentage speaks a foreign language? This other a thousand people. Therefore, it was necessary to
question will allow us to assess the level of language create a booking system, as in cinemas, concert halls
preparation of our guides, educators, the suitability or trains; even though entrance itself is free, booking
of our book publications, audio-guides... But not a ticket has become a necessity. This allowed us to
only that! After all, every language reveals a different completely change the analysis of attendance both
ethnic and national identity, a different historical in terms of numbers (the reporting is basically done
and cultural background, a different set of concepts at an hourly rate) and the composition of visitors
and symbols, and different contemporary challenges. – their country of origin, language, whether they
And do we know how many visually or hearing- come alone or as part of a group, repeat visits by
impaired disabled people visit our Sites? Are there a given tourist service company, school, teacher,
any homeless people among the visitors? organisation, association...
It would seem that, without conducting regular
The system is still far from perfect, that is for
surveys, we will never attain this knowledge and sure. We are continuing to work on making it more
that only a spinning wheel or a counting camera will tight and efficient, but the 2018 reports were the
allow us to determine the number of visits per year. first ever to include the exact number of people of
This is especially so in places without an extensive uncertain origin. For the first time!
tour guide system (where even the tour guides’
20
Observing Memories
ISSUE 3
The analysis of this knowledge allows us to see