Abstract
Research into tourism, a relatively new discipline, is developing, using theories and approaches from other disciplines. Extensive research is underway in Latvia on sites related to tragic historical events and death, including the use of Holocaust sites in tourism. In order to comprehensively study these dark heritage sites, previous studies related to cemeteries and death sites have been analysed. The aim of this article is to identify death sites as special places and as elements of the cultural landscape. The attitude of locals towards dark heritage sites cannot be understood without understanding the attitude towards death sites and cemeteries in the cultural context. This article gives an overview of existing research in necrography, summarising the geographical approaches used to characterise these particular sites. The studies already conducted in Latvia have been reviewed and the most relevant definitions of dark tourism and thanatourism have been identified. The main problems faced in including places of death and tragedy in tourism product promotions have been described, especially if they are related to tragic events such as the Holocaust. In conclusion, the main aspects and approaches to be used for further research into the use of Holocaust sites in tourism have been identified.
Highlights
In the last decades cemeteries, burial sites and death/genocide sites have become an integral part of tourism supply and demand
Cemeteries, which reflect local culture, politics and historical events, have become tourist attractions, as have other sites related to death and tragic historical events
Some sites of death associated with important events in Latvian history are more or less known and marked: the sites where participants in the 1905 revolution were punished, as well as the resting places of revolutionaries, the death sites of World War II partisans, and sites where killings of local people took place
Summary
In the last decades cemeteries, burial sites and death/genocide sites have become an integral part of tourism supply and demand. It should be noted that local communities are not always willing to expose these cemeteries or to "open" dark heritage sites to tourists. This depends on both local culture and collective memory and locals’ desire to be either “silent” or “vocal” regarding tragic historical events and their aftermath. ‘places with shadowed history” (Hartmann 2014, 166), “places of pain and shame” (Logan & Reeves 2009), and due to different parties involved in these events – the victims, the perpetrators and the observers/bystanders (Tunbridge & Ashworth 1996) These are places related to the Holocaust – ghetto areas, concentration and death camps, mass murder sites and mass grave sites – and places where Jews were hidden or rescued. How are these places highlighted in the landscape and in memories, and what feelings do they evoke? How do you better label them as dark tourism destinations? Light (2017) outlines the political and ideological context of tourism at places of death and suffering as a direction for future research
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