Correction to: The in-between object and the value of the unknown: conservation and representation at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

Object discoveries from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (PMA-B) in Poland challenge the efforts to preserve paint on corroded steel supports. The objects have been exposed to outdoor weathering conditions and then buried for about 65 years. This caused severe damage, such as corrosion and paint delamination. The fragile condition of such cultural heritage objects makes their preservation difficult and comprehensive studies for paint conservation are lacking. Additionally, a thorough investigation of used materials is needed to put objects produced by forced labour in historical context. In this study, we analysed signposts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (Poland) collection to gain information about used materials, the object’s genesis as well as damage phenomenology. Literature research suggests that the signposts may be produced within the former German NAZI concentration and extermination camp. Inorganic constituents were identified using elemental analysis, such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy coupled to an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM–EDS). Organic matter was analysed utilizing vibrational spectroscopic instrumentation Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Our results include the use of synthetic organic pigments (SOPs) and binders, which were newly emerged paint materials at that time. The study highlights the need for conservators to have detailed understanding of composite materials and demonstrates the need for further investigation concerning painted steel objects.

This paper considers the presence and potential educational impact of national exhibitions within the Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum in Poland. It takes a constructivist, personal-theoretical approach, drawing from autoethnography to explore possible visitor experiences at two of the national exhibits. Through detailed reflection on the French exhibition (Block 20) and the Dutch exhibition (Block 21), the author conducts a thematic analysis on the content in order to consider the constructions and possible intentions of the narratives presented. This is used to consider how the (relatively unvisited) exhibitions might contribute to visitors’ developing understandings of the complex history of the Holocaust. Particularly, the author considers how the national exhibits might contribute to the education of young people at the museum, and, by extension, at other sites, memorials, or educational spaces. The paper concludes that the inclusion of these complex national narratives is vital in young people gaining an understanding of the Holocaust as a multi-layered event. The paper offers a model for enabling inclusive Holocaust Education that embraces: (1.) divergent historical narratives (such as those in the national exhibitions), (2.) young people’s emotional engagement and responses to those narratives, and (3.) the Holocaust (and its representations) as a ‘contested space’ of history.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the biocidal efficacy and determine the influence of 90% ethyl alcohol applied in the form of a mist on the surface of model and historical leather. The main object of the study were historical leather shoes from the collections of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (A-BSM) in Oświęcim (Poland). Microorganisms found before on historical leather objects in A-BSM were inoculated onto samples of model and historical leather. Ethanol mist was applied with an airbrush with optimized parameters for 15 s at a concentration of 90%. To increase the biocidal effectiveness, the samples were sealed in a tight package and stored for 22 hours. The effect of disinfection was assessed using culture-dependent methods. Changes on the surfaces was assessed using SEM, FTIR, and XPS techniques. On surfaces inoculated with microorganisms in the following quantities: 105 - 108 CFU bacteria and 105 CFU fungi, a reduction of 99.51% to 99.99% was observed. Ethanol disinfection had no negative effect on the surface morphology and collagen structure. Disinfection with ethanol applied in the form of mist can be effectively used to eliminate microbiological contamination of historical objects made of leather in A-BSM.

Vapourised hydrogen peroxide (VHP) and ethylene oxide (EtO) methods for disinfecting historical cotton textiles from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland

In April 2010, following a competition, held by Yad Vashem-The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, on behalf of the Israeli Government, Studio de Lange was nominated to plan and design the permanent exhibition in block 27, the Jewish Pavilion at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The site is UNESCO Heritage since 1979. Open image in new window

At the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (A-BSM) actions have been undertaken to effectively protect employees and minimise risk of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spreading from the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic. The aim was to present the actions, instructions and procedures introduced at the A-BSM to provide information how to deal with pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in institutions taking care of cultural heritage before and after closure of the Museum for visitors and after reopening. The described activities were developed at the Museum by a specially established Expert Team. Groups of employees and places in which they were most exposed to contact with visitors and, as a consequence, at the highest risk of getting infected, were characterised. The employees were provided with personal protective equipment, and at the Museum site, devices essential for maintaining the microbiological cleanliness of the rooms, were placed. In the next stage, instructions and procedures for particular groups of employees were prepared. Visitors were educated about the need of taking precautions and were allowed to disinfect in several places at the Memorial Site. Steps to reduce attendance at this time has also been taken. Procedures for employees of the A-BSM were developed in such way that they can also be used after reopening of the Museum for visitors. The actions which ensured the microbiological safety of the A-BSM employees, brought satisfying results. In more than 21 days after closing of the Museum for visitors, no cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 were found among employees, despite a very high threat.

To illustrate the scale of the Nazi crimes, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum presents in its permanent exhibition piles of “mass objects” taken from the anonymous victims of extermination before their death. In contrast, to convey individual victim experiences, other Shoah museums display personal objects whose owners and stories are known. Based on ethnographic work at the conservation laboratories of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, this article identifies a third type of object, neither anonymous nor fully known: an “in-between object” found within piles of belongings using new forensic and conservation practices. In-between objects provide fragmented information on their previous owners; however, they reveal a mere speculative shadow of a victim’s life. Evoking questions rather than answers, they allude to the partial stories of the objects themselves and the experiences of their owners. I suggest that incorporating in-between objects into exhibitions can present the scale of the absence of knowledge on the Shoah, thus facilitating an ethical encounter with objects of violence within the memorial museum.

The aim of the article is to present Polish and American policies of remembrance in the context of Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust, which is the biggest of them. It is in these countries that the two largest museums in the world, next to the Israeli Yad Vashem, were formed as a result of the policies of remembrance: The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The history of their formation is as varied as the objects being different. However, The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum known as Auschwitz, and The US Holocaust Memorial Museum as historical museums have an educational function, and individuals learn from them what it means to belong to a group, nation, and civilization. This holds many lessons that can be regarded as moral ones.

Microorganisms colonising historical cardboard objects from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland and their disinfection with vaporised hydrogen peroxide (VHP)

The research aim was to optimize the operating parameters of a diode laser irradiation for the effective disinfection of degraded collagenous materials. Historical leather shoes stored at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim (Poland) were the main study objects. Surfaces of contaminated small spots occurring on the degraded materials were sampled with moistened swabs and microbiologically examined using the molecular techniques MALDI-TOF MS, 16S rRNA, and NGS sequencing. The surfaces were colonized by bacteria with 106 CFU/100 cm2 and 104 CFU/100 cm2 by fungi, on average. Microorganisms of the genera Bacillus and Penicillium were predominant. The effectiveness of the laser treatment was assessed for the new and degraded collagenous materials against isolated environmental strains using four variants of exposure time and number of repetitions. 0.3 W/CW 2 × 2 min variant was the most effective and also did not noticeably change the color of the treated samples. The variant caused a reduction in the numbers of microorganisms by 96–100%. After 1 month, four types of leather were subjected to comprehensive physico-chemical analyses. SEM and FTIR techniques confirmed that laser irradiation in the selected optimal variant did not affect the surface morphology and collagen structure, while XPS technique enabled detection of subtle changes in non-historical protective coatings on the surfaces of tested degraded historical materials.

ABSTRACTVisitor photography at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is becoming increasingly popular in the age of the Internet, social media and digitalization. People visit the Auschwitz Museum for a number of reasons, and their motivations for taking photographs at the site also vary. Several of the primary reasons to photograph Auschwitz given by the sixteen participants in this study will be explored in this paper. The ethical dilemma surrounding the taking of ‘selfies’ will also be considered.

Nazi Concentration Camp Vocabulary in Oral Interpreting in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in the Opinion of Interpreters and Spanish-Speaking Visitors
 The article presents some of the results obtained as part of multi-stage research project that was carried out in 2018-2020. Its purpose was to collect information on interpreting performed for visitors at the Auschwitz- Birkenau State Museum. The article discusses the difficulty of translating the camp vocabulary when performing the above-mentioned interpreting. Thirty interpreters shared their views on the oral translation as well as 96 visitors, for whom the information during the tour was provided by a Spanish speaking interpreter.

This article adopts onto-epistemological framework for investigating pedagogical practices, focusing on the specific context of Holocaust education excursions to Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (ABSM) and focusing on pedagogy in and through audio-headsets. It is based on an extensive dataset collected through ethnographic-inspired observations at ABSM, and focusing particularly upon three school-based excursion groups (two Scottish, one Norwegian). Through processes of spatial ordering and intra-action, we argue that the relationships comprising ‘things’ (e.g. students, exhibitions in the Museum, knowledges about the Holocaust) can be explored as more-and-less visible.

This paper considers how the Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum is experienced by teenage visitors on organized visits with the Holocaust Educational Trust (UK). The findings presented are based on semi-structured interviews with twelve 17 year olds, exploring their emotional engagement with the sites and how they perceive and understand this emotional interaction. The findings suggest that young people experience their visit in a variety of ways, and that this is an incomplete and ongoing process in their learning. The paper raises a number of considerations for educators taking educational visits to the museum, to support pupils in their learning.

Museums at former concentration and death camps pose great challenges for their curators. The Holocaust – as a symbol of the collapse of European values – is interpreted differently by certain nations and states. These approaches are connected both with the past and with current historical policy, as well as with collective memory. This article focuses on the moment of the physical encounter between different national groups during educational activities at museums in situ such as the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the State Museum at Majdanek, and the Museum of Struggle and Martyrdom in Treblinka. Such meetings may (or should) be an opportunity to learn about and understand (sometimes very) different national perspectives. Participation in educational projects may also become a catalyst to understand and promote reconciliation with the Other. The analysis is based on the philosophy of dialogue of Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas and Józef Tischner.