This is a picture from the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland which is now a make-shift museum. You may not be able to make out what is in this exhibit. But that is 7 tons of human hair, shaved off the heads of the dead bodies of a sickening amount of people. I visited there last summer with my cousin and grandma, and out of everything I saw, this was the most gut-wrenching. I understand the message they are trying to convey here, millions of people died here. It definitely made you realize the gravity of the situation, if you didn’t already. But to me, it’s a slap in the face, me and my cousin were both nauseated by the idea of pieces of thousands upon thousands of people who were tortured and killed on display.
This is a picture of the Fallen Leaves exhibit in the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany. This exhibit brings out the same emotions as the hair exhibit does. You actually walk on the 10,000+ iron faces, and you realize that you’re only looking at a fraction of the many people who were brutally murdered that are represented here. The room feels eerie, and the loud noises made from walking on the faces makes you flinch and even speaking feels wrong. This part of the museum is located in one of the “void” areas, which are generally unused, empty spaces of the museum which are supposed to represent the horrible loss of so many Jewsr.
I know the hair exhibit is supposed to be real, because so many people do not realize how horrible the holocaust was, and seeing all that hair makes you open your eyes, makes you sick to your stomach because the holocaust was sick.
I’m interested in other people’s thoughts on this. Do you think the hair exhibit is acceptable? Or should we stick with representations like Fallen Leaves?
I’m so fascinated by everything to do with the Holocaust. Someone take me to all of these places
