Where is academic research on the Holocaust at the moment?
We are at a transitional moment, which is between lived memory, lived experience, and historical memory. The survivors who were younger than seven are now almost eighty. And therefore we are in the last hours of the living witnesses. This means the responsibility for remembering and understanding the Holocaust has now been given to the next generation, and the remarkable thing is that learning in this field is flourishing. We have more information every day and more scholars are working on the material, there are more and more books and films on this issue. I find it remarkable that I can keep up with my field. No matter how many books I read, thereʼs still more books to read, and I get books every day by people who are doing research. Itʼs a field thatʼs flourishing. One of the reasons is because the material itself is interesting; the second is that people are struggling to understand how this could happen —“how could they do this to other people?”, “what are the machineries of humanity that made it possible?”—, and that is why we all study this in depth.
Why is it important to continue studying and doing research on the Holocaust?
In the deepest part of my human soul, I wish my work was not necessary. This exhibition should make people say: “This is what twentieth century humanity did to each other. We, in the twenty-first century, who are tolerant, who are human, decent… we wouldnʼt do that”. However, look at the world in which we live. We have seen mass murder and genocide since the Holocaust: Bosnia, Rwanda… And we have mass murder taking place in Syria today, and there is mass murder in Southeast Asia, where Muslims are killed by Buddhists. The nature of genocide is unfortunately a serious part of our world. Itʼs a real danger.
Moreover, we see how Neo-fascism is rising. Itʼs almost impossible to think, but recently, there was a march of 60,000 people in Poland in which people said “Get rid of the Jews”. Before the war, there were 3.3 million Jews in Poland; there are now less than 10,000. What is it about them that they are screaming “get rid of the Jews”? You cannot believe these 10,000 people are saturating the entire society; so in one sense this is regarded as a cultural hangover from an earlier period of time.
This rise of fascism rewriting history makes my work more necessary and urgent. I wish it wasnʼt so. I would like to be writing about the French Revolution or something that doesnʼt have such an impact.
This exhibition shows the world original material from Auschwitz for the first time. Why was it necessary to bring these materials around the world now?
The world holds three ways of learning its history. One is to go to Auschwitz, which is a direct experience. The second one is through websites and all the interactive learning on Auschwitz. And the third is that Auschwitz goes out to the world. We created this exhibition that will travel around the world for seven years now, and will bring the story of Auschwitz to people who will not see Auschwitz. Therefore, there are three ways of communication: the first and most important one is to visit; the second one is to learn through publications, films, and so on. And the third is this very important exhibition. And we are glad that Spain is the first country to have it.
Could you give us a bit of advice on how dissemination on the Holocaust should be in order to reach the young audience?
You can do so through films, interactive programs or online learning. The problem is that young people do not read the way my generation read, they want everything in a quick way. But you have to reach them anyway: if they donʼt read, you find the way to make them learn. It is urgent.
