Seeing Auschwitz
Tue May 2, 14:30 - Tue Aug 15, 15:30
Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre
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Join us for a guided tour of Seeing Auschwitz
Seeing Auschwitz uses analysis of the scarce photographic evidence of the camp that has survived to the present day as well as the process of the construction of the collective memory of Auschwitz and other contemporary genocides.
''Seeing Auschwitz'' confronts the viewer with rare photographs captured by perpetrators, victims and liberators. The images provide unsettling perspective and stark evidence of mass murder, but also of the humanity of the people who perished there. The vast collection of images come from varying sources including aerial allied pictures of the camps (many taken by South African Air Force’s 60 Squadron, one of the leading aerial photographic units operating in Europe during the war), documentation of the deportation process and living within Auschwitz as well as insight into life before the camps.
The exhibition presents more than 100 images of victims and perpetrators, as well as snapshots of the systematic extermination process and scenes of everyday life in Auschwitz, mostly immortalized by the SS perpetrators themselves and audiovisual testimonies of survivors. These provide unequivocal evidence of the crimes committed at Auschwitz and, at the same time, present a great challenge to the viewer.
Lead curator and one of the world's leading experts on the Holocaust, Paul Salmons says: "They look like faithful portraits of an instant, but these photographs are not neutral sources at all: we are looking at a piece of reality but seen from the Nazi perspective. It is necessary to stop and analyze them to really see what each image truly reveals, not only about the place and the moment, but also about their own authors, the people portrayed, and even about ourselves as viewers''.
The contents of the exhibition have been developed by Musealia and their team of experts lead by curator Paul Salmons, so that each visitor can get the most out of their visit and understand the facts presented in the exhibition regardless of their prior historical knowledge.