Museums "in situ" as Places of Reconciliation

Youth Meetings and Educational Activities at Former Concentration and Death Camps

Abstract

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.