RECENT INCIDENT AT AUSCHWITZ
Recently, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum made headlines when it confiscated the Israeli flags emblazoned with a yellow hostage ribbon from a group of visiting British Jews.
According to the guards at the site, the flags with the ribbons constituted a “political statement” and thus violated museum policy.
The museum defended their decision, stating, “These regulations have been in place for many years to prevent any attempts to use the Memorial for activities unrelated to its history, which could be perceived as disrespectful to the victims of the German Nazi camp or as an attempt to instrumentalize their suffering in any way. These rules apply to all visitors, regardless of intent or good faith. [The] Israeli flag was altered by the addition of a yellow ribbon. As a result, it no longer qualified as a national flag and, therefore, did not comply with our regulations.”
I do find it a bit egregious to suggest that Auschwitz victims -- 91% of whom were Jews -- would find efforts to free the hostages “offensive,” especially given Holocaust survivors were not only murdered on October 7, but Hamas took two Holocaust survivors hostage.
WHO RUNS THE AUSCHWITZ MUSEUM?
In short, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is run by the Polish government. Unfortunately, the Polish government has long been accused of Holocaust revisionism -- also known as soft Holocaust denial -- particularly in that they go to great lengths to whitewash Polish collaboration and complicity during the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews, including 3 million Polish Jews.
A Polish law passed in 2018 now makes it illegal — punishable up to 3 years — to accuse Poland of responsibility or complicity with the Germans during the Holocaust. In 2021, a Polish court ruled that a Holocaust scholar had to apologize for claiming her deceased uncle had helped kill Jews during World War II. When, in 2021, the New Yorker wrote an investigation exploring Polish government efforts to stifle Holocaust scholarship, the Auschwitz Memorial condemned the magazine.
In 2022, Israel went as far as to cancel Israeli youth school trips to Poland after it felt that Poland was trying to manipulate the curriculum. “[Poland] can’t tell us what to teach Israeli children,” said then Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
In 2021, Poland also passed a law making it exponentially harder for Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants to recover the properties that were stolen from them during the Holocaust.
POLISH COLLABORATION AND COMPLICITY
Only 0.02% of the total Polish population during World War II are classified as Righteous Among the Nations, or those who went out of their way to help Jews during the Holocaust.
Under the Nazi policy of Lebensraum -- territorial expansion -- and Nazi racial politics, which regarded Slavs (including Poles) as “sub-human” due to alleged “Asiatic” blood and “Judeo-Bolshevik” influences, the Polish population suffered tremendously under the German occupation. It’s estimated that 5% of the Polish population actively collaborated with the Nazis, while 25% actively resisted the occupation. Around 4000 Poles actively acted as blackmailers and informants for the Germans. As many as several hundred thousand worked for the Germans as government officials, police officers, and more. However, it’s really important to understand that resisting the Nazi occupation did not generally translate to sympathy for the Jews.
When it came to the Holocaust, the vast majority of the Polish population were bystanders, and thus, complicit at various levels. Some Polish citizens carried out massacres of Jews (e.g. 1941 Jedwabne pogrom). After 1943, the Armia Krajowa, the Polish resistance, became openly antisemitic. In December 1943, a Home Army report stated, “There is certain sympathy for the Jews. It is better, however, that they are no longer here and no one desires to see them return after the war.”
WHO WERE THE VICTIMS AT AUSCHWITZ?
In total, 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau during its years of operation, between 1940-1945. Of those 1.3 million deportees, 1.1 million were Jews.
Of the 1.1 million Jews deported to Auschwitz, 900,000 were gassed immediately upon arrival. Another 60,000-100,000 Jews died as inmates from starvation, disease, torture, medical experiments, executions, or gassing (post-arrival).
Other groups were not generally sent to the gas chambers upon arrival for immediate extermination but were instead used for slave labor. This is why we stress that the Nazi genocide of Jews cannot be equated to the Nazi persecution of other groups.
The majority of the “work force” at Auschwitz was comprised of Polish political prisoners.
WHO IS AUSCHWITZ FOR, ANYWAY?
It makes perfect sense that the Auschwitz Memorial would wish to avoid the politicization of the site, given that the Holocaust is already so heavily politicized by activists for just about every cause -- from animal rights activists to anti-vaccination activists.
The problem here is that advocacy on behalf of the Israeli hostages -- which up until Shlomo Mantzur was released this past week included Holocaust survivors -- is not, as the Auschwitz Memorial claimed via direct message, an activity “unrelated to its history.” Hamas’s motivations on October 7 were rooted in the exact same virulent hatred -- antisemitism -- that led over 900,000 Jews into the Auschwitz gas chambers. The Auschwitz Memorial should be able to make these types of discernments.
After all, what use is there in memorializing dead Jews at Auschwitz if we cannot advocate to prevent more dead Jews in the future (that is, saving the hostages)?
Demanding the release of the hostages is not a political position, nor is it advocacy for any given political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is a humanitarian issue.
It’s especially strange that the Auschwitz Memorial would claim to have confiscated the hostage flags in order to avoid using the site for causes “unrelated to its history,” when they themselves have shared posts which use Auschwitz to advocate for the free Palestine movement.
I don’t know that I necessarily agree that nobody should visit Auschwitz until it’s under Jewish custodianship -- I think the site’s historical importance trumps its questionable management -- but I do think that it’s deeply problematic that none of the Auschwitz board of directors are Jewish, given 91% of Auschwitz victims were Jews. We should have a voice.
THE HOLOCAUST TOURISM INDUSTRY
It’s important to note that entrance into Holocaust-related destinations, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, is usually free. That said, visitors must pay in order to participate in guided tours. Additionally, destinations such as Auschwitz often have “gift shops” with all sorts of memorabilia, such as books. Even more alarmingly, souvenir shops across Europe often sell Holocaust-related products, such as t-shirts with the phrase “Arbeit macht frei.” For those unfamiliar, the phrase “Arbeit macht frei” — “work sets you free” — is the slogan that appears on the entrance to Auschwitz and other concentration camps.
Of course, the revenue of Holocaust-related destinations is usually invested in preserving said destinations. Nevertheless, the fact that Jews — including survivors and the descendants of survivors — have to pay to visit is morally questionable at best.
The problem with Holocaust tourism is that it’s never limited to the camps. Even if 100% of the profits of Holocaust-related destinations are invested into the preservation of such sites, tourists still pay for plane tickets, buses, food, hotels, and more.
Holocaust tourism forms a significant part of the Polish tourism industry and economy. Auschwitz is the biggest “tourist attraction” in Poland -- but it’s not Jews who benefit from this tourism, even though 91% of Auschwitz victims were Jewish. This is especially frustrating in light of the fact that after the Holocaust, the Polish government seized at least $30 billion in stolen Jewish properties. Virtually none have been returned to their rightful owners.
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