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Mixed Metaphors in Muranów: Holocaust Memory and Architectural Meaning at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Author(s): Rosenfeld, Gavriel D.
Date: 2016
Topics: Holocaust Memorials, Jewish Museums, Main Topic: Culture and Heritage
Abstract: Since it opened in 2013, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw has been widely praised by journalists and scholars for its permanent exhibition and striking architecture. Built on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto established by the Nazis in World War II, the museum has been identified as a symbol of improved Polish–Jewish relations in the wake of the Holocaust. Few commentators, however, have delved deeply into the complexities of the museum’s architectural relationship to the Holocaust. This essay traces the long discussion surrounding the architectural symbolism of the museum – from its inception up to its recent completion – in order to illustrate how the Holocaust continues to pose major challenges to architects as they wrestle with the task of building after Auschwitz.