this happened here – presence and authenticity in an archaeological sensibility

Gary (Devore) has brought my attention to a remarkable new publication from the Panstwowe Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau [Link]

“The Auschwitz Album” or “Lili Jacob Album” comprises about 200 photographs taken by the German SS and depicting the arrival of a transport of Hungarian Jews at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp in 1944. This new collection takes 31 originals of the people being led to their death and juxtaposes photos taken today from exactly the same viewpoints.

The result is extraordinarily powerful.

“This happened here” – an aspect of a contemporary archaeological sensibility, here of vestige, the haunting past … and so much more …

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