Becoming the ‘Holocaust Police’? The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum’s Authority on Social Media
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Abstract
In 2009, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum took the experimental initiative of creating a Facebook page; since then, it has established accounts on other social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter, and is now followed by more than one million users across these networks. This chapter investigates the ways in which the Museum utilises social media, particularly with regard to its authority as an institution and site of Holocaust education and remembrance. On one hand, the Museum has fostered an online virtual community where Auschwitz victims are commemorated, the ethics of remembrance are discussed, and users’ feedback is sought and acknowledged. On the other hand, the institution uses social media to fact-check and criticise certain representations of Auschwitz, suggesting only those explicitly approved by the Museum are acceptable. This demonstrates a wider Museum dichotomy between retaining traditional, didactic practices and establishing contemporary, participatory ones.
Topics
Holocaust Commemoration Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial Holocaust Education Social Media Holocaust Memorials
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Page Number / Article Number
179–212
ISBN/ISSN
978-3-030-83495-1
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Link to article (paywalled), Becoming the ‘Holocaust Police’? The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum’s Authority on Social Media
Bibliographic Information
Becoming the ‘Holocaust Police’? The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum’s Authority on Social Media. . 2021: 179–212. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1007/978-3-030-83496-8_8
