Hiding the Holocaust: Examining the architecture and topography of terror

How did millions of people ignore the death and suffering taking place during the Holocaust? This talk will examine the architecture and landscape of Nazi concentration camps in Germany to discuss why so many felt able to deny the existence of the camps and the realities of the Holocaust. It then questions how we memorialise the Holocaust in the twenty-first century, and how a focus on aspects of the Holocaust impacts on how we ‘remember’. The talk concludes with suggestions of how we can use this information to speak out against tyranny and anti-Semitism, and look beyond the surface to challenge misleading rhetoric.

Rachael Burns is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at The University of York. Her studies into the Holocaust began in 2001 with a school visit to Dachau concentration camp which instilled in her the importance of education to make a difference in the world. Her studies since, throughout her university career, have been focused on the Holocaust and genocides around the world, but her passion is in teaching the next generations to speak out against inequalities and to empower them to be the change they want to see.

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Host or Publisher University of York Open Lectures