Publications
A Global Analysis of Ethical Practices and Visitor Motivation in Sites of Death and Disaster
Dark tourism, which involves visiting sites linked to death and tragedy, can be made more ethical and sustainable through the Sustainable Engagement Model. This model integrates Thanatourism, Postmemory Theory, and Emotional Geography to guide visitor experiences while preserving collective memory and fostering empathy. A global analysis of four international sites—Auschwitz Birkenau, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Ground Zero (9/11 Memorial), and Rwanda Genocide Memorial—revealed that ethical storytelling, community involvement, and participatory design are key to meaningful engagement. These practices not only promote respectful remembrance but also strengthen global citizenship by encouraging thoughtful reflection among visitors.
Beyond Standards: Framework for Monitoring, Protection, and Conservation of Highly Vulnerable Cultural Heritage Sites in the Context of Anthropopressure and Climate Change
A groundbreaking framework for monitoring, protecting, and conserving highly vulnerable cultural heritage sites—such as the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial—has been developed to address threats posed by climate change and anthropogenic pressure. The study introduces non-standard, minimally invasive testing methods that successfully mitigate risks without altering the material fabric of historic assets. Drawing from a multi-year interdisciplinary research project in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, it challenges conventional conservation standards, emphasizing the need for adaptive strategies to protect sites increasingly vulnerable to external threats like hydrogeological changes. This approach offers a model for safeguarding other UNESCO World Heritage Sites facing similar pressures.
“Auschwitz Still Lives and Breathes in Me”
German and Austrian Romani authors, including Philomena Franz, Otto Rosenberg, and Ceija Stojka, pioneered narratives of their Holocaust experiences from the 1980s onward, offering a unique perspective on Auschwitz-Birkenau's role in Romani collective memory. Their memoirs reveal how forced violations in the 'Gypsy Family Camp' disrupted Romani cultural codes, family life, and traditions—highlighting music, storytelling, oral history, and the natural world as key elements of their identity. By documenting these experiences, the authors not only reclaim Romani heritage but also establish Auschwitz as a central symbol for the Holocaust within Romani communities, bridging gaps in German and Austrian cultural narratives.
Awkward Objects: Expanding the Boundaries of the Holocaust Archive
This special issue challenges the boundaries of Holocaust representation by advocating for the inclusion of 'awkward objects'—vernacular art, hand-drawn maps, graffiti, and other non-traditional testimonies—that have been marginalized or dismissed as unreliable. These objects, often overlooked due to their informal or ambiguous nature, offer critical insights into the Holocaust's social, emotional, and historical complexities. The research employs interdisciplinary approaches, drawing from cultural studies, anthropology, and art history, to re-evaluate these materials' evidentiary value. By doing so, it aims to democratize Holocaust knowledge, exposing epistemic injustices and fostering a more pluralistic understanding of genocide memory.
Jewish heritage in Poland today (in the former Prussian lands). Between Jews, Germans and Poles
Despite deliberate destruction during the Nazi era and subsequent neglect, traces of Jewish heritage persist in 50 towns within Poland's Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, a region largely overlooked by both contemporary inhabitants and visitors seeking their roots. This study identifies these hidden remnants through extensive field research and source queries, revealing a complex interplay between Jewish, German, and Polish histories that has only begun to be acknowledged since the 1990s. While surviving cemeteries and synagogues remain disused due to post-war emigration and historical hostility, their rediscovery offers potential for cultural reconciliation and heritage preservation in this often-neglected region.
Acoustic Assaults on the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concourse
Sonic violence was a deliberate and effective tactic used by SS guards at Auschwitz-Birkenau to instill fear, disorient prisoners, and ensure compliance during the deboarding process. The study reveals that amplified commands, antisemitic slurs, barking, beatings, and gunshots created a chaotic acoustic environment that inflicted both physical and psychological trauma on Jewish arrivals. Survivors' memoirs and interviews were analyzed using methods from sound and sensory studies to demonstrate how this sonic assault led to mental paralysis and lasting sensory memories of the genocide. The research underscores the profound impact of auditory violence in the perpetration of mass atrocities.
Analysis of causes of damage to masonry walls in the historic barrack No. B-115 in the former KL Auschwitz II – Birkenau camp
A detailed analysis of the masonry walls in barrack B-115 at Auschwitz-Birkenau reveals significant structural damage, primarily due to environmental corrosion and mechanical stress. The study identifies critical issues such as wall deformation, detachment, and extensive cracking, particularly in gable walls and connections between lateral and longitudinal walls. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted conservation efforts that balance historical preservation with structural stability. The research employs a methodical approach to document damage types and their causes, guiding repair strategies designed to minimize intervention while ensuring visitor safety and maintaining the barrack's documentary value.
Engaging Auschwitz: an analysis of young travellers’ experiences of Holocaust Tourism
Young travelers visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau often employ imaginative strategies to deepen their emotional and historical connection with the site, shaping their experiences through interactions with historical, pedagogical, and cinematic narratives of the Holocaust. While these visits primarily aim to enhance understanding of historical facts, they also frequently reinforce humanist values, albeit sometimes ambivalently in relation to contemporary society. The study used semi-structured interviews to explore motivational factors for visiting, engagement methods, and the meanings ascribed to the experience by young travelers.
On Ephemeral Memory Politics, Conservationist International Law and (In-)alienable Value of Art in Lucas Lixinski’s Legalized Identities: Cultural Heritage Law and the Shaping of Transitional Justice
Lucas Lixinski's monograph, Legalized Identities: Cultural Heritage Law and the Shaping of Transitional Justice, reveals that cultural heritage law plays a pivotal role in shaping memory and identity politics during transitional justice processes. It demonstrates how international cultural heritage listing mechanisms, such as those applied to Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland), Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (Japan), and Robben Island (South Africa), can promote pragmatic engagement with the law, fostering dialogue and reconciliation more effectively than traditional legal accountability measures. Lixinski argues that closing the gap between transitional justice discourses—often dominated by anti-impunity measures—and cultural heritage law offers opportunities for more nuanced and effective societal transitions. The study employs a systematic review of literature, case studies, and critical analysis to explore how memory politics intersects with international law, highlighting both its potential for reconciliation and risks of political instrumentalization.
Selfies in Auschwitz: Popular and contested representations in a digital generation
Selfies taken at Auschwitz-Birkenau represent a contentious shift in Holocaust remembrance, blending digital engagement with historical witnessing practices. This study reveals that while selfie-takers often frame their actions as meaningful acts of commemoration, they simultaneously challenge traditional narratives of solemnity and respect. Researchers analyzed popular selfies—examining their composition, circulation, and public reactions—to demonstrate how these images reflect a tension between continuity (e.g., photography, souvenirs) and radical disruption in Holocaust memory. The practice empowers individuals as 'witnesses' while provoking backlash from gatekeepers of historical remembrance, highlighting the complex interplay between digital culture and the preservation of traumatic heritage.
Communication en langues étrangères avec les visiteurs d’un lieu de mémoire : un sujet périphérique des études de traduction
Interpreting services at memory sites face unique challenges, particularly in translating complex historical terms and navigating time constraints under high visitor volumes. A study of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum—Poland’s UNESCO-listed Holocaust memorial—revealed that interpreters often compress guide explanations or assume guiding roles to accommodate logistical pressures while ensuring accurate communication. Surveys conducted between 2017–2018 identified key strategies, such as extending explanation time during transit, to balance visitor needs with the site’s solemn purpose.
Conservation and Reinvention
This chapter reveals how cultural heritage law, particularly through the World Heritage Convention framework, plays a pivotal role in shaping narratives and promoting transitional justice efforts at sites like Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland), Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (Japan), and Robben Island (South Africa). It highlights the tension between preserving historical memory and fostering reconciliation, while also exploring the revitalization of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) as a tool for healing in post-conflict societies. The study analyzes legal mechanisms that protect ICH, such as international listing, to safeguard practices like Glasoechko male singing in North Macedonia—endangered due to community dispersal during and after Yugoslav wars—and draws parallels with Colombia's conflict resolution efforts. By examining these case studies, the chapter underscores the potential of heritage conservation to bridge past injustices and foster social cohesion.
Contemporary Auschwitz/Oświęcim
This study reveals the dynamic and contradictory ways contemporary residents of Oświęcim (Auschwitz) construct meaning around their town's complex past, blending pre-war Catholic-Jewish coexistence, wartime Nazi occupation, the Holocaust, and post-Communist Poland narratives. Drawing on fieldwork and interactional sociology frameworks—inspired by Mead and Goffman—it examines how these memories evolve in both offline and online contexts. The research highlights the fluidity of historical memory, showing that residents' narratives adapt to social interactions, challenging static interpretations of collective remembrance.
Giving Voice to a Foxtrot from Auschwitz-Birkenau
A rare musical artifact from Auschwitz-Birkenau, the song 'Die schönste Zeit des Lebens' (The Most Beautiful Time of Life), has been meticulously restored and performed after decades of neglect. Originally a 1941 German foxtrot arranged by prisoners for a jazz ensemble, the manuscript—preserved in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum—underwent significant orchestral changes, introducing errors that required detailed analytical correction. This study reconstructs the song’s original intent through 'micro-interventions,' offering a poignant example of how music was both a means of survival and a form of resistance under Nazi oppression. The research highlights the challenges and ethical considerations of preserving and performing such works, providing new insights into the cultural resilience of prisoners during one of history's darkest periods.
How memory survives: Descendants of Auschwitz survivors and the progenic tattoo
Descendants of Auschwitz survivors in Israel often replicate the progenic tattoo—originally assigned to inmates by Nazi authorities—as a form of personal and collective memorialization. This act reflects evolving interpretations of Holocaust memory, shifting from a symbol of victimization to one of resilience and remembrance. The study traces this phenomenon through intergenerational storytelling, revealing how descendants navigate private and public narratives around the tattoo's meaning. By analyzing genealogies of the tattoo, the research highlights its role in both individual identity and broader cultural commemoration, offering insight into the enduring legacy of trauma and memory.
Legalized Identities
Cultural heritage law plays a pivotal role in shaping memory and identity during societal transitions, challenging the notion that such processes emerge organically. Lixinski's work demonstrates how legal frameworks, particularly those governing UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Auschwitz-Birkenau, are integral to advancing transitional justice and preventing future atrocities. By focusing on the intersection of cultural heritage law and transitional justice, this ground-breaking book reengages with the original promise of pragmatic societal progress, offering a new lens through which to understand lasting peace and cultural understanding.
Lernort Auschwitz
School visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Holocaust memorial site, significantly impact students' long-term learning and emotional engagement with history. A new analysis of four decades of educational excursions reveals that students not only process the experience immediately but also reflect deeply on its meaning over time. The study highlights how pre-visit anxieties and post-visit emotions shape their historical understanding, while also exploring whether virtual alternatives could complement or even replace in-person visits. These findings provide critical insights for designing future school trips to sites of Nazi-era atrocities.
Lived experience and the Holocaust: spaces, senses and emotions in Auschwitz
Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most lethal Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust, reveals profound insights into lived experience when analyzed through its spatial, sensory, and emotional dimensions. This study demonstrates that examining individual spaces—such as prisoner bunks, barracks, latrines, crematoria, construction sites, and SS offices—can uncover aspects of daily life in the camp that have been historically overlooked. By integrating spatial history with the histories of senses and emotions, this research provides a more nuanced understanding of Auschwitz, making it more recognizable while contributing to broader debates on Nazi terror. The approach highlights how subjective experiences were shaped by the physical and emotional landscapes of the camp.
Philosophie nach Auschwitz
The Holocaust, exemplified by the atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau, fundamentally challenges the notion of universal moral unity. This philosophical analysis reveals that the 'species break' of Nazism exposes stark alternatives: the morality of totalitarian regimes versus that of human rights. Strengthening liberal political institutions is critical to historical responsibility and countering contemporary nationalism or neonazism. The study underscores the necessity of redefining moral frameworks in light of such catastrophic events.
The positive role of negative emotions in heritage-site visits: the case of Auschwitz Death Camp
Visiting sites of atrocity, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, triggers complex emotional responses that significantly shape the heritage tourism experience. This study reveals that negative emotions—like sadness and anger—are not merely inevitable but play a constructive role in deepening engagement, intensity, and memorability during visits. Contrary to conventional tourism narratives, these emotions coexist with positive ones (e.g., pride or satisfaction) without diminishing their impact. The research highlights how on-site presence amplifies emotional resonance, distinguishing heritage tourism from other forms of travel. Based on 43 interviews with participants from Israel, Poland, and Germany, the findings challenge assumptions about visitor experiences in traumatic heritage contexts.
Vlogging Auschwitz: new players in Holocaust commemoration
A growing trend of YouTube vloggers documenting visits to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum reveals how digital influencers are reshaping Holocaust commemoration. These content creators, often positioning themselves as popular historians, blend personal narratives with educational intent, raising questions about their role in preserving historical memory. The study highlights the need for critical analysis of both the vlogs' content and metadata to understand their impact on public perception and the fate of official narratives in an era dominated by user-generated content. By examining self-promotion strategies and visibility mechanisms, researchers aim to assess whether this new wave of digital historians contributes meaningfully to commemoration efforts or dilutes its authority.
Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away
This reflective essay evaluates the impact and effectiveness of the Auschwitz exhibition, 'Not Long Ago. Not Far Away,' through a behavioral lens, assessing whether it fulfills its promise to bridge history, empathy, and action. The study begins with a descriptive account of the exhibition, followed by an analysis of its strategies and outcomes. It explores whether Holocaust exhibitions can successfully address inhumanity and traumatic subjects, ultimately questioning their capacity to inspire meaningful change beyond historical education.
Education After Auschwitz
Theodor W. Adorno's 'Education After Auschwitz' proposes that the cultivation of personal guilt recognition and anti-ideological enlightenment through education can prevent the recurrence of authoritarian regimes and atrocities like those at Auschwitz. Adorno argues that understanding one's complicity in historical tragedies, combined with knowledge about the socio-psychological roots of authoritarianism, is essential for restoring civilized coexistence. He identifies a lack of spiritual energy in post-war European culture as a breeding ground for authoritarian tendencies, emphasizing education as a tool to foster politically aware citizens and disrupt cycles of oppression.
Elisabeth ÅsbrinkAnd in the Vienna Woods the Trees Remain: The Heartbreaking True Story of a Family Torn Apart by War by Saskia Vogel
Auschwitz-Birkenau serves as the focal point for Elisabeth Åsbrink's poignant exploration of the Holocaust's enduring impact on Jewish families. The book, 'And in the Vienna Woods the Trees Remain,' delves into the harrowing narrative of Otto Ullmann, a Jewish boy sent to safety from Vienna in 1938, and his family's subsequent persecution. Åsbrink employs a dual approach, combining historical investigation with personal storytelling, to illuminate the post-WWII struggles faced by surviving European Jewry, particularly their quest for refuge in Israel. The study underscores the resilience of familial bonds amidst systemic atrocity, offering both an educational and emotional reckoning with history.
État présent : Dark Heritage
Auschwitz-Birkenau, as a site of extreme violence and atrocity during the Holocaust, has become a focal point for discussing 'dark heritage'—a concept that shifts focus from tourism to the broader cultural and memorial significance of such sites. This study argues that 'dark heritage' better captures the complex engagement with suffering and contested histories than does 'dark tourism,' which emphasizes leisure and visitor behavior. It examines how French and francophone scholars approach these sites, often through visual ethnographies like those by Jérémie Dres and Georges Didi-Huberman, which challenge official narratives and highlight personal and material encounters with heritage. The research also critiques the anglophone dominance of dark tourism studies and explores how memorial practices in France grapple with unresolved legacies, such as those tied to the slave trade or colonialism, without reducing them solely to tourist consumption.
Postcards from Auschwitz
Holocaust tourism, including visits to sites like Auschwitz-Birkenau, plays a significant role in shaping collective memory and remembrance of the Holocaust. Contrary to perceptions that such tourism is commercial or superficial, it serves as a vital component in efforts to understand and remember this pivotal historical event. Daniel P. Reynolds' work reveals how tourism, influenced by Cold War politics, the 'memory boom' of the 1980s, and the fading eyewitness accounts, has evolved into a global phenomenon with diverse forms and interests. Through on-site explorations, contributions from Holocaust and tourism studies, and tourist observations, the study underscores the importance of tourism in challenging humanity's ideals and learning from the past.
Prevention of SARS-COV-2 coronavirus spread at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland. The most visited Memorial site in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (A-BSM) implemented targeted measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission among employees and visitors. Despite being one of the world's most visited memorial sites, no COVID-19 cases were reported among staff for over 21 days after closing to visitors. The museum established an Expert Team that identified high-risk employee groups and locations, provided personal protective equipment (PPE), and installed devices to maintain microbiological cleanliness. Visitors were educated on precautions and offered disinfection points, while attendance was reduced. Procedures developed for employees remained effective post-reopening, demonstrating a scalable model for pandemic management in heritage institutions.
Auschwitz and After
Auschwitz and After offers a profound exploration of memory, time, culpability, and survival through the lens of a Holocaust survivor's memoir. The work, penned by CP Delbo—a member of the French resistance—examines the enduring psychological and societal impacts of Nazi atrocities, often referred to as the 'afterdeath' of the Holocaust. Lawrence L. Langer's updated introduction deepens the analysis, contextualizing Delbo's account within broader scholarly discourse on trauma and historical culpability. This edition expands on the original with a new bibliography, enriching its significance in Holocaust studies.
Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account
Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account provides a harrowing firsthand perspective on the atrocities committed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp during World War II. Authored by Miklos Nyiszli, a Jewish doctor forced to work in the camp's medical experiments, the book offers an unprecedented look into the operations of Nazi medicine, including human experimentation and mass killings. Nyiszli's account, translated from Hungarian and published in 2011, combines clinical detachment with personal trauma, revealing the systemic brutality of the camp while also documenting his own survival strategies. The work is notable for its rare insider perspective, blending historical documentation with a deeply personal narrative that challenges readers to confront the ethical horrors of medical exploitation under totalitarian regimes.
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