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‘Selling’ the Holocaust

When I reveal to new acquaintances that I am the Marketing Manager at Sydney Jewish Museum, I am often met with one of three reactions:

  1. Confusion, followed by probing questions about the history of the Holocaust, the mental and physical well being of the Survivor volunteers and queries about my personal connection to the Museum and its mission. (As a non-Jewish Anglo-Saxon with a deep love of all things Taylor Swift, the connection is rarely self-evident).
  1. Excited recognition – often followed by interesting anecdotes about family members or friends who had been touched by this history, or recollections of deeply affecting visits to Auschwitz or the Anne Frank House in Holland.
  1. A thoughtful pause followed by an awkward cough and a muttered “So you ‘sell’ the Holocaust?”

Understandably, the last reaction tends to make me cringe. It is true, after all, that with the new Holocaust exhibition expected to open in November, I have, and will be devoting significant time and resources to ensuring that the exhibition is heavily promoted in an attempt to spike curiosity and inspire people to visit.

It is also true that the Holocaust has become the focus of a type of tourism that sees visitors flock in their thousands to sites such as Auschwitz, the Anne Frank House, Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

And yet, the notion of ‘selling the Holocaust’ is divisive, disturbing and problematic for academics, Jewish and non-Jewish communities alike. I myself react strongly to the idea that I am taking a narrative, a tragedy and a deep cultural wound and capitalising on it.

The concept of ‘disaster marketing’ is not specific to the Holocaust alone. I watched with interest some years ago as the foundation responsible for the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York tried to navigate this murky space.

US President Barack Obama, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, US First Lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton tour the National September 11 Memorial.

US President Barack Obama, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, US First Lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton tour the National September 11 Memorial.

In the months and years that it took to establish the 9/11 Museum, the foundation was simultaneously accused of ‘using the memory of the deceased to create a cash cow’, ‘ritualising grief on a loop’ and ‘subsuming educational material in an emotionally manipulative narrative, punctuated by fraught objects and amplified by every architectural, cinematic, literary and religious tool available.’

The critique could have been lifted from the ‘comments section’ of every Holocaust Museum around the world.

And yet, while the presentation and representation may be scrutinised, few would doubt the need for these communal spaces of commemoration, remembrance and mourning or argue against the significance of a Museum that documents tragedy, encourages conversation and stands in opposition to dangerous and willful denial.

During my time at the SJM, I have developed three personal guiding principles, which govern how I represent the Museum and its work to the public:

  • In so much as possible, be a conduit for the Survivors, letting them speak, reflect and remember. As Eli Wiesel warned ‘whoever has not lived through the event can never really know it.’
  • It is not my place to force or impose ‘Holocaust lessons’ on others. The conclusions people draw are varied, personal and change over time. To quote the scholar Michael R Marrus, ‘there is a danger that lesson seeking often misshapes what we know about the event itself to fit particular causes and objectives.’ I can, however focus on how studying the history of the Holocaust  can enrich and deepen our understanding of human capacity and facilitate greater understanding about society, institutions and the world around us.
  • Finally, ensure always that the tone, tenor and contents of the Museums advertising and communications is accurate, sensitive and delivered with empathy and understanding.

With these thoughts in mind, I begin the process of ‘Marketing’ our new exhibition.

Author: Natalia Thomas, Marketing Manager

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