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Memorialization and the Ecological Landscapes of Holocaust Sites: The cases of Plaszow and Auschwitz-Birkenau
Author(s): Charlesworth, Andrew; Addis, Michael
Date: 2002
Topics: Geography, Holocaust Memorials, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Environment
Abstract: The memorialization of Holocaust sites has been discussed so far in terms of their monuments and camp remains. Commentators have focused on aesthetics and questions of authenticity and preservation. The ecological component of these landscapes of horror has barely been considered. Yet the ecological management of these two sites is and will continue to be crucial to visitor perception and access. For a variety of reasons, Auschwitz has come to be the place that symbolizes the Holocaust. Plaszow has gained its notoriety amongst the plethora of concentration and slave-labour camp sites in Eastern Europe through the film Schindler's List. These two sites, so different in size and appearance, were chosen for analysis because of their fame and their differing management regimes. They illustrate the extremes of the visitor encounter with the ecology of sites. At Plaszow, with barely any remains of the camp extant, unmanaged ecological succession threatens to erase history; at Auschwitz, with a distinctive assemblage of camp remains actively conserved for the visitor, the ecological management by the Auschwitz Museum seeks for the most part merely to frame the remains.