Remembering Auschwitz: History, Holocaust, Humanity
On View at JMM March 5th, 2017 – May 27, 2017
The Remembering Auschwitz project combines four unique exhibits into one innovative experience:
A Town Known As Auschwitz: The Life and Death of a Jewish Community
Developed by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
The town of Oświęcim is notorious for one thing: death camps. Yet for centuries prior to World War II, Jews and non-Jews lived side by side in Oświęcim and called it home. A Town Known As Auschwitz examines the rich history of Oświęcim, Poland—the town the Germans called Auschwitz—through photographs that trace the life of the town and its Jewish residents, from the 16th century through the post-war period.
Architecture of Murder: The Auschwitz Birkenau Blueprints
Developed by Yad Vashem
Architecture of Murder: The Auschwitz Birkenau Blueprints presents documents of the camp’s construction and expansion including those of a crematorium and gas chamber that were discovered in Berlin in 2008. A complex construction project that entailed many years and the contributions of multiple organizations and companies, what started as a single camp with 22 buildings in 1940 became a complex of three main camps and 40 sub-camps. The exhibition explores the many different phases of construction leading up to the completion of a death camp at which approximately 1.1 million people were murdered.
Loss and Beauty: Photographs by Keron Psillas
Photographer Keron Psillas has traveled several times to Eastern Europe to visit and document sites that witnessed atrocities during the Holocaust such as concentration and death camps. The resulting photographs – including many from her visit to Auschwitz – in which she overlays contrasting images on top of one another serve as haunting reminders of the past and provide a contemporary perspective on how we remember Auschwitz and the Holocaust today.
The Holocaust Memory Reconstruction Project
An Art Installation by Lori Shocket
The JMM commissioned California-based artist, Lori Shocket, to facilitate a series of interactive workshops for survivors and their families. During the workshops, which took place in June and July, participants brought family photographs and documents as well as stories to share with one another. Each survivor’s story is told through a collage.
Visitors will gain a more comprehensive overview of the history of Auschwitz, both the town and camp, from its pre-Holocaust era through the camp’s liberation in 1945 – and the extension of this experience into the memories of Holocaust survivors and their progeny living right here in Maryland. As they examine the photographs, documents and artifacts – as well as listen to the stories of those who experienced its atrocities first-hand – visitors will have the opportunity to reflect on many important issues relating to the Holocaust as well as to challenge preconceived notions about this historical era.
We would like to thank the following donors for their generous support of the exhibition, Remembering Auschwitz: History, Holocaust, Humanity:
The Herbert Bearman Foundation
The Charles Crane Family Foundation
Richard & Rosalee C. Davison Foundation
With additional support from:
Klein Sandler Family Fund
Maryland Humanities
Alvin & Louise Myerberg Family Foundation, Wendy Jachman
Mirowski Family Foundation
Henry and Barbara Rosenbaum
Ellen Heller and Shale Stiller
John and Gloria Segall
Exhibits at the Jewish Museum of Maryland are also supported by:
Betsey and Philip Kahn Publications Endowment
Stanford Z. and Cory L. Rothschild Exhibition Endowment
Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Exhibition Endowment
The public programs for this project were made possible by a grant from Maryland Humanities, through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programsdo not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Maryland Humanities.
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