How do people affected by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings resonate with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park? How do people affected by 9/11 feel watching the commercial activity at Ground Zero and the newly built museum? There are countless devastations in the world that have resulted in memorial sties and museums, which of course allow people to learn about the history surrounding the events; but is this history always presented in a respectful and sensitive manner? Is listening to the recordings of the final words of those stuck in the World Trade Center respectful to the person on the other side of the phone? Why are murder sites and disaster zones tourism spots? In some aspects, I agree that this type of thanatourism, “dark tourism,” allows people to “reconnect with mortality,” as an International Business Times article suggests, and also can shed light upon atrocities that are sometimes forgotten or ignored by people outside of immediate impact. To some people, these inconvenient histories are put in a more understandable context after the museum or memorial is visited — but what about the people who suffered from these histories? Every year, millions of people walk through these sites — some sensitively, some not so much — to “see” what happened.
Depending on family background, everyone has a memorial site or ground that resonates more with them than others. For me, that site is Auschwitz, the concentration camp where my grandfather was held as a teenager and luckily survived. He was the only one in his family to come out alive. I don’t want to go see where my grandfather was branded and tortured. I don’t want to see the piles of hair that were cut off a millions of people, which was also one of the jobs my grandfather performed to stay alive. I don’t want to see the site where every one of his family members were killed. I don’t need to see the actual site to know the Holocaust happened — but does that mean other people do? I am criticizing myself when I say that this particular piece of history may mean more to me. Yet, I am looking with a broader scope when I say that just because of my personal history, does not mean concentration camp sites are any more “important” than other sites of dark tourism. I’m still unsure how I feel about Auschwitz as a tourist site. I was at my friend’s house over winter break, and his dad was talking to me about how sad the 9/11 museum was. “The only memorial that I’ve been to that was more depressing was Auschwitz,” his dad said to me. “That was probably the most chilling—” he was cut off by his son. “Dad, don’t talk to her about that, it freaks her out.” It does freak me out, but that’s because I was so closely affected by it. Why does it not freak me out as much to talk about other sites of disasters, and see what’s in their museums? Obviously dealing with disasters is closer when it’s your family and history involved, but that doesn’t mean the sensitivity or importance should change.
Despite this being a surface-level example, when I see articles like Justin Bieber signing this message in the Anne Frank Museum guestbook: “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber,” I don’t think it’s funny. It shows a lack of knowledge about the history and sensitivity surrounding the Holocaust, and the pain her and her family (and many others) had to go through. Like I said earlier, there are too many examples of dark tourism spots, but along with that, there are way too many examples of insensitivity surrounding dark tourism spots. Bieber’s example, while a particularly disgusting one, is not uncommon. Why do you need a photo under the ominous gates of Auschwitz that read “Work sets you free”? While there are millions of people who visit these horrific sites every year, more importantly there are millions of people who were affected by these horrific events, and that’s why sensitivity surrounding dark tourism is crucial.
--Alexa
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1630425,00.html
http://www.dark-tourism.com/index.php/italy/15-countries/individual-chapters/529-auschwitz#s
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