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University of Southampton Research Repository ePrints Soton Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Between Evidence and Symbol: The Auschwitz Album in Yad Vashem, the Imperial War Museum (London) and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. by Jaime Ashworth Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2011 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Doctor of Philosophy BETWEEN EVIDENCE AND SYMBOL: THE AUSCHWITZ ALBUM IN YAD VASHEM, THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM (LONDON) AND THE AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU STATE MUSEUM. by Jaime Ashworth This project explores the representation of the Holocaust in three museums: Yad Vashem in Jerusalem; the Imperial War Museum in London; and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in O świ ęcim, Poland. It uses the so-called Auschwitz Album, a collection of photographs taken in Birkenau in May 1944, as a case-study. Employing the concept of mythology in the Barthesian sense of a ‘language in which we speak’, it examines the ways in which the Holocaust is more and more a prism through which other things are viewed; a language in which other things are spoken of. Chapters 1 and 2 lay the groundwork for the results of fieldwork described in chapters 3-5. Chapter 1 is concerned with the photographs themselves. Describing the structure and content of the collection, it demonstrates the degree to which the interpretation of photographs is complicated by what the viewer brings to them. While photographs might appear to transmit information, this chapter suggests that they are better understood as reflective objects. Chapter 2 interrogates the assumptions of five “classic” accounts of the Holocaust by Raul Hilberg, Helmut Krausnick, Lucy Dawidowicz, Martin Gilbert and Saul Friedländer, in light of a proposed ‘Holocaust metanarrative’. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 engage with the particular museums on their own terms, posing questions about how they interact with the societies they are found in. Each museum, these chapters argue, raises a set of questions about the host nation’s relationship with the past. Chapter 6 looks at the specific display strategies employed by the museums to display the Auschwitz Album, considers how this relates to the broader institutional and national agendas as explored in Chapters 3-5. An epilogue takes the basic conclusion of this section – that all memory is local, and that debate about meaning is likely to be the continuing legacy – and asks if there is an alternative language in which to speak of the Holocaust. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 An Illusion of Wholeness: The Auschwitz Album 38 Chapter 2 A Mythology of Annihilation: Holocaust 84 Metanarrative, 1961 to the present. Chapter 3 On the Mount of Memory 125 Chapter 4 Rose-Tinted Spectacle? 153 Chapter 5 ‘After Auschwitz’? 185 Discussion: To the end of the story? 210 Epilogue: After-thought, After-writing 256 Bibliography 280 List of illustrations Introduction Figure 1 Memorial to the Deportees, Yad Vashem (Moshe Safdie, 29 1995) (Jaime Ashworth) Chapter 1 Dust Breeding (Marcel Duchamp/Man Ray 1921) 44 Figure 1 USHMM 77222/ USHMM 77223 49 Figure 2 USHMM 77220 54 Figure 3 USHMM 77229 55 Figure 4 USHMM 77319 56 Figure 5 USHMM 34582 57 Figure 6 USHMM 77236 59 Figure 7 USHMM 77242 60 Figure 8 USHMM 77253 61 Figure 9 USHMM 77218 61 Figure 10 USHMM 77259 64 Figure 11 USHMM 77256 66 Figure 12 USHMM 77280/ USHMM 77281 67 Figure 13 USHMM 77338/ USHMM 77339/ USHMM 77340 68 Figure 14 USHMM 77348 69 Figure 15 USHMM 77317 70 Figure 16 USHMM 77290 72 Figure 17 Unemployed Man 1928 (August Sander) 75 Figure 18 USHMM 77359 78 Figure 19 USHMM 77374 79 Figure 20 USHMM 77381 80 Chapter 3 Figure 1 Balcony of the Historical Exhibition, Yad Vashem (Jaime 125 Ashworth) Figure 2 ‘From Holocaust to Rebirth’ Naftali Bezem 1970 (Jaime 126 Ashworth) Figure 3 Chamber of the Holocaust, Mount Zion. (Jaime Ashworth) 139 Figure 4 Jacket sewn from Torah scrolls, Chamber of the Holocaust 140 (Jaime Ashworth) Figure 22 Still from ‘Living Landscape’ www.yadvashem.org 145 Chapter 4 Figure 1 Outbreak 1939 , IWM Exhibition (Jaime Ashworth) 155 Figure 2 ‘All behind you, Winston’ (David Low, 1940) 157 Figure 3 IWM Large Exhibits Gallery (Jaime Ashworth) 162 Figure 4 In Memoriam , IWM Exhibition (Jaime Ashworth) 164 Figure 5 IWM Lower Ground Map, 2010 165 Figure 6 The Blitz Experience (Jaime Ashworth) 166 Figure 7 London Blitz (George Rodger, 1940) 167 Figure 8 Elephant and Castle Shelter (Bill Brandt, 1940) 169 Figure 9 The Bomber Offensive, IWM Exhibition (Jaime Ashworth) 172 Figure 10 The Bomber Offensive, IWM Exhibition (Jaime Ashworth) 173 Figure 11 The Bomber Offensive, IWM Exhibition (Jaime Ashworth) 175 Chapter 5 Figure 1 Functions of Auschwitz 186 Figure 2 Map of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum (Jaime Ashworth) 187 Figure 3 Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Jaime Ashworth) 188 Figure 4 Relics in Block 5, Auschwitz I (Jaime Ashworth) 191 Figure 5 Auschwitz I, Block 27 (Jaime Ashworth) 192 Figure 6 Auschwitz I, Block 15 (Jaime Ashworth) 195 Figure 7 Remuh Cemetery, Kraków (Jaime Ashworth) 206 Figure 8 Memorial plaques for Brzezinka village (Jaime Ashworth) 207 Chapter 6 Figure 1 Yad Vashem first gate (Jaime Ashworth) 216 Figure 2 Yad Vashem second gate (Jaime Ashworth) 216 Figure 3 Yad Vashem reception building (Jaime Ashworth) 217 Figure 4 Senator Barack Obama at Yad Vashem www.yadvashem.org 218 Figure 5 Senator Barack Obama at Yad Vashem www.yadvashem.org 220 Figure 6 IWM: Model of Auschwitz-Birkenau 230 Figure 7 IWM: model of devastated city (Jaime Ashworth) 231 Figure 8 IWM: detail of Auschwitz model 232 Figure 9 IWM: ‘Final Solution’ 234 Figure 10 IWM: ‘Deportation’ 235 Figure 11 Death mask of Heinrich Himmler, IWM (Jaime Ashworth) 240 Figure 12 Auschwitz album displayed in Auschwitz I (Jaime Ashworth) 244 Figure 13 Stairwell of Block 4, Auschwitz I (Jaime Ashworth) 247 Figure 14 Memorial plaques at Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Jaime Ashworth) 248 Figure 15 Memorial plaques at Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Jaime Ashworth) 249 Figure 16 The Alte Judenrampe (Jaime Ashworth) 250 Figure 17 Tourists at Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Jaime Ashworth) 251 Epilogue Figure Entrance to In Memoriam , IWM (Jaime Ashworth) 275 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Jaime Robert Alan Ashworth, declare that the thesis entitled Between Evidence and Symbol: the Auschwitz Album in Yad Vashem, the Imperial War Museum (London) and the Auschwitz- Birkenau State Museum and the work presented in the thesis are both my own, and have been generated by me as the result of my own original research. I confirm that: this work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; I have acknowledged all main sources of help; where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; An early and incomplete version of Chapter 5 has been published as: Jaime Ashworth, ‘After Auschwitz’, Emergence: Faculty of Humanities Postgraduate Journal , Volume Two ‘The Defining Moment’, Autumn 2010, pp. 34-39. Signed: ……………………………………………………………………….. Date: ……………………………………………………………………………. Acknowledgements Any academic work is much more than the sum of its bibliography. Many conversations and kindnesses have contributed to this project, and identifying them all would be impossible. My supervisors, however, have to be acknowledged for their unstinting academic and personal support. Dr Andrea Reiter’s faith in the project and its author has sustained both through some difficult moments, and her rigorous testing of my wilder hypotheses has been immensely supportive. Mention must also be made of her ability to tell when I was pursuing a blind alley, even if I didn’t always listen. Professor Joachim Schloer has been a supportive and critical presence whose sense of humour has tempered his acute comments on my work. I owe both of them a considerable debt. Dr Adrian Smith, Dr Shirli Gilbert, Dr Helen Spurling and Dr Oren Ben-Dor all made time to read specific parts of the texts and made very useful comments. It cannot go without saying that any mistakes or errors of judgement that remain are entirely my responsibility. The same applies to the assistance I received from members of staff at the many museums that I visited. In Israel, Dr Gideon Greif and Naama Galil were very helpful and forthcoming. At the Imperial War Museum, Suzanne Bardgett, Sarah Batsford and Emily Fuggle always responded promptly and fully to some fairly odd questions. The ‘out-of-hours’ tour of the Holocaust Exhibition with Suzanne was a particular highlight of my research.