Shoah Part 1 Introduction Flashcards
Exhibiting Absence: museums and memorials of the Shoah- OU course
What does Shoah mean?
Catastrophe
Which language is Shoah from?
Hebrew
What does Holocaust mean?
consumed by fire
where does the term holocaust come from?
Greek
why do many Europeans not like the term Holocaust?
connotations of sacrifice about it
What does the Yiddish work Khurban mean?
destruction
What does Khurban refer to?
used to denote the Holocaust and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem - Babylonians in 6th century BC and Romans in 70 CE
What does diaspora mean?
exile of Jews from the land of Israel
From what did contemporary museums develop from?
early modern cabinets of curiosity and private collections
What is the present form of museums
archaeological and ethnographic artefacts
What is different about museums when compared to contemporary museums?
display objects which referred to people, cultures and historical events that were temporally, graphically or culturally distant
What are the challenges associated with commemorating the murder of Jews?
whole communities were wiped out - people, possessions, places of worship and culture
Why has there been an increase in Holocaust museums in recent years
tensions of forgetting difficult - post war many who survived would find it too painful and also many of the perpetrators were still living
what are the different strategies of representing absence?
immediate context of time and place
emotions triggered by objects too strong
allow visitors imagination to fill gaps
What is significant about museums and memorials conveying the horror of Shoah?
absence of objects
Objects in museums are said to have different values. What are they?
authenticity rarity/ uniqueness 'beauty in themselves' contextual value relic value
Can artefacts be ‘beautiful in themselves’?
doubtful
taste is culturally acquired
museums put on display what the public will find appealing
museums reinforce cultural predisposition
what is relic value in the context of museums?
objects venerated for their association with a set of beliefs
Why would museums display modern reconstructions of objects? And what form do they take?
explain things e.g. Models, diagrams, reconstructions and re-enactments
What are the three main purposes that Museum curators have to satisfy?
conserve and preserve objects
political aims (funding)
attract the public
what is present in most museum displays?
mix of ‘authentic objects’ and storytelling
What important role do museums play?
advocating sense of being ‘cultured’ - museums to educate all visitors in this regard
In what way can objects be used to communicate ideas?
context - location is important and has significance
Who designed the ‘Shoes on the Danube promenade?
Gyula Pauer - sculptor
Can Togay - film director
When was the memorial ‘Shoes on the Danube promenade’ created?
2005
What constitutes the memorial ‘Shoes on the Danube promenade’?
60 pairs of bronze shoes on the banks of the Danube
300m from the Hungarian parliament building in Budapest
What does the memorial ‘Shoes on the Danube promenade’ commemorate?
the shooting of people from the Jewish ghetto in Budapest in 1944
Who killed the people at the site of the Shoes on the Danube promenade?
Arrow Cross Hungarian fascist militia
Approximately how many people were killed on the Danube?
10,000
Are the shoes on the Danube authentic?
no, they are constructed
Why are the shoes on the Danube significant?
context - memorial of Arrow Cross atrocities
what do the shoes represent on the edge of the Danube?
look as if just been worn
range of identities - gender, social & professional categories
