Holocaust Letters Exhibition Questions Our Sense of Catastrophe
A new exhibition at the Wiener Holocaust Library in London, 'Holocaust Letters', displays correspondence from 1937 to 1947 that reveals the everyday reality of the Holocaust. The letters, written between friends and relatives, contain ordinary gossip, family news, and even cartoons, challenging expectations of apocalyptic discourse. They show how victims became entwined with catastrophe while seeking normality. The exhibition runs through 16 June. The article reflects on how we recognize epochal disasters, citing Walter Benjamin's concept that the 'state of emergency' is the rule, not the exception. The letters survive as family heirlooms, donated by families including that of author Michael Rosen, offering a hopeful testament to memory. However, the article warns that this memory is being squandered, echoing Theodor Adorno's imperative to prevent such atrocities.
Key facts
- Exhibition 'Holocaust Letters' at Wiener Holocaust Library, London, through 16 June.
- Letters date from around 1937 to 1947.
- Letters contain ordinary content: gossip, family news, cartoons, a drawing of Nietzsche.
- One letter from parents of a Kindertransport refugee to a child unseen for seven years; all three survived.
- Letters often use euphemisms like 'going to Poland' due to censors.
- Many letters donated by families, including that of Michael Rosen.
- Article references Walter Benjamin's 'Theses on the Concept of History' and Theodor Adorno's imperative after Auschwitz.
- Article questions how we know when a disaster is 'the big one'.
Entities
Artists
- Walter Benjamin
- Theodor Adorno
- Michael Rosen
Institutions
- Wiener Holocaust Library
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Poland
- Franco-Spanish border