I warmly invite you to see a great exhibition at the Mocak Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow about the World War II. Artists see the war differently … I saw a short video by Jane Korman tilted “dancing Auschwitz” there … The irritating music filled the halls of the museum. Why could I hear it so loudly? – I was wondering – Does it come from the café belonging to the museum? There was something annoying about that. Who let Gloria Gaynor’s song ‘I will Survive’ be heard so loudly in such a sublime place? Then I saw the video. Just a short, five minutes long video; but in those few minutes, two strong and extreme feelings passed through me: crying and laughter. I wanted to clap at the end! But I didn’t. It was not appropriate to clap in such place.
Drama, Symbol, Trauma. World War II. MOCAK Krakow exposition.
“Portents of war are already present in Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Unfortunately, they went unheeded. We are insufficiently attentive to the delusions of dictators and in consequence fail to notice the signals of heinous crimes to come. World War II made us realise to what extent people can turn a deaf ear to forewarnings, our imagination protecting us – at what cost! – from imagining the worst.”
Over 2 millions tourists visited the Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial last year. Have every one of them thought about the message conveyed in the guides’ stories, told in almost every language of the world? It is not enough to see the Auschwitz. You need to talk about it and do something every day in order to prevent such tragedy and trauma from happening again. One of the tourists for whom I organize study tours at the Auschwitz Museum said: ‘Do one little thing for another person every day. Show that you remember what you’ve heard from the guide in Auschwitz and that you understand how dangerous your silence and lack of objection could be.” We have something to oppose every day. See and show your dissatisfaction. Do not be indifferent!