On the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, two experts on Auschwitz argue for and against the idea that the former Nazi death camp should be allowed to crumble away.
On the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, two experts on Auschwitz argue for and against the idea that the former Nazi death camp should be allowed to crumble away.
Historian Robert Jan Van Pelt says that once the last survivor has died it should be left for nature to reclaim, and eventually forgotten.
Historian Robert Jan Van Pelt says that once the last survivor has died it should be left for nature to reclaim, and eventually forgotten.
But former Polish Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, once an inmate, says Auschwitz must be preserved to bear witness to the fate of its victims.
But former Polish Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, once an inmate, says Auschwitz must be preserved to bear witness to the fate of its victims.
ROBERT JAN VAN PELT, HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR Many Auschwitz survivors have told me that a visit to the camp can teach little to those who were not imprisoned there.
ROBERT JAN VAN PELT, HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR Many Auschwitz survivors have told me that a visit to the camp can teach little to those who were not imprisoned there.
Their view is best summarised in the text of Alain Resnais' celebrated movie Night and Fog (1955), written by the camp survivor Jean Cayrol. As the camera pans across the empty barracks, the narrator warns the viewer that these remains do not reveal the wartime reality of "endless, uninterrupted fear". The barracks offer no more than "the shell, the shadow".
Their view is best summarised in the text of Alain Resnais' celebrated movie Night and Fog (1955), written by the camp survivor Jean Cayrol. As the camera pans across the empty barracks, the narrator warns the viewer that these remains do not reveal the wartime reality of "endless, uninterrupted fear". The barracks offer no more than "the shell, the shadow".
Should the world marshal enormous resources to preserve empty shells and faint shadows?
Should the world marshal enormous resources to preserve empty shells and faint shadows?
Certainly, as long as there are survivors who desire to return to the place of their suffering, it is appropriate that whatever remains of the camps is preserved.
Certainly, as long as there are survivors who desire to return to the place of their suffering, it is appropriate that whatever remains of the camps is preserved.
Many of the same survivors who have told me that I can derive little knowledge from a visit to the camp acknowledge that it was good for them to return to the place, anchoring an all-encompassing nightmare back to a particular place.
Many of the same survivors who have told me that I can derive little knowledge from a visit to the camp acknowledge that it was good for them to return to the place, anchoring an all-encompassing nightmare back to a particular place.
The world owes it to them not to close such an opportunity for a return. As long as one survivor is still alive, the remains of the camp should remain available.
The world owes it to them not to close such an opportunity for a return. As long as one survivor is still alive, the remains of the camp should remain available.
It might be that... the best way to honour those who were murdered in the camp and those who survived is by sealing it from the world
It might be that... the best way to honour those who were murdered in the camp and those who survived is by sealing it from the world
But what when there are no survivors left? In his autobiographical novel The Long Voyage (1963), former Buchenwald inmate Jorge Semprun considered what ought to happen with the remains of that camp after the death of the last survivor, "when there will no longer be any real memory of this, only the memory of memories related by those who will never know (as one knows the acidity of a lemon, the feel of wool, the softness of a shoulder) what all this really was."
But what when there are no survivors left? In his autobiographical novel The Long Voyage (1963), former Buchenwald inmate Jorge Semprun considered what ought to happen with the remains of that camp after the death of the last survivor, "when there will no longer be any real memory of this, only the memory of memories related by those who will never know (as one knows the acidity of a lemon, the feel of wool, the softness of a shoulder) what all this really was."
Semprun hoped that grass, roots and brambles would be allowed to take over the camp, destroying the remainder of the fences, barracks and crematorium, effacing "this camp constructed by men".
Semprun hoped that grass, roots and brambles would be allowed to take over the camp, destroying the remainder of the fences, barracks and crematorium, effacing "this camp constructed by men".
As we commemorate the 64th anniversary of the arrival of the Red Army at the gates of Auschwitz - the term "liberation" is not really appropriate as most of the inmates had been evacuated a few days earlier in death marches - it is good to begin thinking about the future first anniversary of the day when the last Auschwitz survivor has died.
As we commemorate the 64th anniversary of the arrival of the Red Army at the gates of Auschwitz - the term "liberation" is not really appropriate as most of the inmates had been evacuated a few days earlier in death marches - it is good to begin thinking about the future first anniversary of the day when the last Auschwitz survivor has died.
It might be that we will agree that the best way to honour those who were murdered in the camp and those who survived is by sealing it from the world, allowing grass, roots and brambles to cover, undermine and finally efface that most unnatural creation of Man.
It might be that we will agree that the best way to honour those who were murdered in the camp and those who survived is by sealing it from the world, allowing grass, roots and brambles to cover, undermine and finally efface that most unnatural creation of Man.
At that future date, may the slowly crumbling debris of decay suggest the final erasure of memory.
At that future date, may the slowly crumbling debris of decay suggest the final erasure of memory.
Robert Jan Van Pelt is a professor at the School of Architecture, University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He is a world-renowned authority on Auschwitz, and the author of several books on the subject, including Auschwitz: 1270 to the Present.
Robert Jan Van Pelt is a professor at the School of Architecture, University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He is a world-renowned authority on Auschwitz, and the author of several books on the subject, including Auschwitz: 1270 to the Present.
WLADYSLAW BARTOSZEWSKI, CHAIRMAN OF THE INTERNATIONAL AUSCHWITZ COUNCIL
WLADYSLAW BARTOSZEWSKI, CHAIRMAN OF THE INTERNATIONAL AUSCHWITZ COUNCIL
The only people with a full and undeniable right to decide the future of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial are the hundreds of thousands murdered in this concentration camp.
The only people with a full and undeniable right to decide the future of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial are the hundreds of thousands murdered in this concentration camp.
The prisoners whom I met as prisoner number 4427, when I was detained in Auschwitz between September 1940 and April 1941, are among them.
The prisoners whom I met as prisoner number 4427, when I was detained in Auschwitz between September 1940 and April 1941, are among them.
To some I owe my survival. They saved me, guided not only by the impulse of the heart, which was heroic at the time. They also believed that the survivors will bear witness to the tragedy which in Auschwitz-Birkenau became the fate of so many Europeans.
To some I owe my survival. They saved me, guided not only by the impulse of the heart, which was heroic at the time. They also believed that the survivors will bear witness to the tragedy which in Auschwitz-Birkenau became the fate of so many Europeans.
Thus I and numerous former prisoners fulfil the testament of the victims and convey to subsequent generations the truth about those days.
Thus I and numerous former prisoners fulfil the testament of the victims and convey to subsequent generations the truth about those days.
But the moment when there will be no more eyewitnesses left is inexorably approaching. What remains is the belief that when the people are gone, "the stones will cry out".
But the moment when there will be no more eyewitnesses left is inexorably approaching. What remains is the belief that when the people are gone, "the stones will cry out".
The ruins of crematoria and gas chambers in Birkenau, the empty bunks in barracks, the dark cells in Block 11 and the Wall of Death - all of them will cry out. Therefore, it is meaningful to save stones, ruins, and buildings, even if the price is high.
The ruins of crematoria and gas chambers in Birkenau, the empty bunks in barracks, the dark cells in Block 11 and the Wall of Death - all of them will cry out. Therefore, it is meaningful to save stones, ruins, and buildings, even if the price is high.
It lies in the nature of man that when no tangible traces remain, events of the past fall into oblivion.
It lies in the nature of man that when no tangible traces remain, events of the past fall into oblivion.
If we let the memorial cease to exist, we will take a great burden on our conscience - we will trample upon the testament of the victims We do renovate castles, preserve paintings and old libraries. The best example is the memory of ancient Greece and Rome - centuries have passed but it is still vivid, thanks, among others, to the remains of both civilisations.
If we let the memorial cease to exist, we will take a great burden on our conscience - we will trample upon the testament of the victims We do renovate castles, preserve paintings and old libraries. The best example is the memory of ancient Greece and Rome - centuries have passed but it is still vivid, thanks, among others, to the remains of both civilisations.
Why then should we let be forgotten the Memorial to the suffering of thousands of prisoners from many countries, and to the extermination of Jews? The place which has grown to be a global symbol and a warning against all forms of contempt for mankind and of genocide?
Why then should we let be forgotten the Memorial to the suffering of thousands of prisoners from many countries, and to the extermination of Jews? The place which has grown to be a global symbol and a warning against all forms of contempt for mankind and of genocide?
There is no other place like that in the world - no other KL [Koncentration Lager, or concentration camp] was a concentration camp and extermination camp at the same time.
There is no other place like that in the world - no other KL [Koncentration Lager, or concentration camp] was a concentration camp and extermination camp at the same time.
Right after the war, there occurred ideas - which fortunately have not been implemented - to demolish the remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau and plough the area up. The justification given was that a place of such cruel murder should vanish from the face of the Earth.
Right after the war, there occurred ideas - which fortunately have not been implemented - to demolish the remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau and plough the area up. The justification given was that a place of such cruel murder should vanish from the face of the Earth.
I do not wish to say that the intentions were not honourable, but in my view disguised behind them were other, not entirely realised, motivations. When a man commits evil, he tries to obliterate its traces.
I do not wish to say that the intentions were not honourable, but in my view disguised behind them were other, not entirely realised, motivations. When a man commits evil, he tries to obliterate its traces.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is like a continuous sting of remorse that torments humanity, especially Europe. It is a sting of remorse for every person who is indifferent to the suffering of others.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is like a continuous sting of remorse that torments humanity, especially Europe. It is a sting of remorse for every person who is indifferent to the suffering of others.
Auschwitz-Birkenau must forever remain an unhealed, burning wound, which wakes people up from moral lethargy and forces them to take responsibility for the fate of our world.
Auschwitz-Birkenau must forever remain an unhealed, burning wound, which wakes people up from moral lethargy and forces them to take responsibility for the fate of our world.
If we let the memorial cease to exist, we will take a great burden on our conscience. We will trample upon the testament of the victims.
If we let the memorial cease to exist, we will take a great burden on our conscience. We will trample upon the testament of the victims.
I hope to be a false prophet in saying that, but if we allow Auschwitz-Birkenau to disappear from the face of the Earth, we might just be opening a way for a similar evil to return.
I hope to be a false prophet in saying that, but if we allow Auschwitz-Birkenau to disappear from the face of the Earth, we might just be opening a way for a similar evil to return.
Prof Wladyslaw Bartoszewski is a historian, author, diplomat and former Auschwitz inmate. Two times Polish foreign minister, Prof Bartoszewski is currently secretary of state and plenipotentiary of the prime minister for international dialogue.
Prof Wladyslaw Bartoszewski is a historian, author, diplomat and former Auschwitz inmate. Two times Polish foreign minister, Prof Bartoszewski is currently secretary of state and plenipotentiary of the prime minister for international dialogue.
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