Why is it so controversial that the Auschwitz Museum confiscated hostage flags?
It was reported yesterday that the Auschwitz Museum confiscated hostage flags belonging to a group of British Jews who were touring the memorial site. Although national flags are permitted these flags seem to have violated the museum’s rules. As the flags had symbols on them – the now synonymous yellow ribbon – they defied regulations. The Museum stated that the flags presented a “political statement”. The Museum also argued that its role is to preserve the dignity and historical integrity of the site. So why is this decision so controversial?
To wear any national flag IS a political statement of some kind. If we see a British flag at the museum, we might think about the Jewish children who were rescued on the Kindertransport but we may also think about the children’s parents who were not saved, many of whom were murdered in Auschwitz. We often see Israeli flags being carried around the museum during the March of the Living tours. Is this not a political statement in the sense that we are associating Israel with the Holocaust or rather Holocaust memory? The Israeli flag is a reference to a later era, it is not of the time of the site. The State of Israel emerged from the Holocaust. The statement the Museum released suggests that we must only think about the museum within a particular context, the context of the Nazi era. Yet the symbolism of the museum and how it is understood by visitors has moved far beyond its original context.
Waving and carrying an Israeli flag at Auschwitz for many Israeli-Jews in particular means pride in their homeland, in their nation. They remember how many Holocaust survivors within their own families survived and moved to Israel and began their new families. In other cases, it is an expression of support for this country. Adding the yellow ribbon shows a more specific support. The yellow ribbon means to bring all the hostages home now. The yellow ribbon also signifies how the hostages families are waiting for their loved one’s return. It is a sign of hope. The Auschwitz Museum will be aware that many politicians have worn the yellow ribbon. However, this symbol was not created by them. This symbol has become politicised but at its core it is not a political symbol – it is a cry for help. The families’ use of this symbol needs to be understood within the context of solidarity with the hostages.
The yellow ribbon itself also symbolises the stories of Holocaust survivors. There is a biographical connection between the Holocaust and 7th October. For example, Holocaust survivor, Moshe Ridler was murdered on 7th October. Other Holocaust survivors such as Haim Raanan, Shoshana Karmin, Rosa Shozki, Ella Panomarov, and Yosef Bernhard are survivors of this day. Yaakov Lubinewski’s family were stolen from him in the Holocaust but he now helps today’s victims by tending to the graves of the soldiers killed on 7th October. Yosef Winner spoke openly to the Claims Conference about how two of his grandchildren were murdered whilst trying to protect their children, Yosef’s great-grandchildren. The agony of learning that her grandson was a hostage and then murdered in Gaza by Hamas drove Holocaust survivor, Bella Haim to return to Poland. Bella took part in the March of the Living at Auschwitz to honour and remember her grandson and the many other victims. Thus, the Holocaust is within living memory in these families and, naturally, they think associatively about their experiences. The 7th October is not a marginal story within the history of the Holocaust because it is estimated that some 2,500 Holocaust survivors directly experienced 7th October and 86 Holocaust survivors who evacuated their homes have since passed away. Today on 27th February, in the early hours, Shlomo Mansour’s body was released by Hamas. Shlomo is a Holocaust survivor. His body was released exactly one month since International Holocaust Memorial Day.
If we think for a moment about Holocaust testimony it often reflects the complex life cycle of the survivor. There is therefore a longitudinal approach applied to interviews as we look back over the survivors’ lives, but we also look forwards to the future. Through this approach we come to understand how their stories fit within their broader family histories as the Holocaust is not the only tragedy within a family. Families and other visitors come to the museum with all these histories in their minds. Some survivors have spoken about 7th October during visits their visits to Holocaust museums and memorials. To disentangle these experiences is difficult as many think associatively about their experiences, histories, and present-day events. Many second and third generation visit the museum and the Holocaust, for them, is not the most recent tragedy they have lived through. When permanent memorials have not yet been built for more recent tragedies the museum fills that void, it stands in as a place to mourn and remember those lost today.
The museum is also a place which preserves many historical objects. The urgent need to document those who were murdered on 7th October and in subsequent events is connected to the Holocaust. In the Palmach Museum in Israel, there is a room to remember the fallen who fought for Israeli independence. One of the dead is a Holocaust survivor yet little is known about his life. It is assumed that he was the only living person from his family who survived the Holocaust. He died in 1948. The only few sentences in his folder state where he died. Some individuals who have lost relatives and friends on or since 7th October have written letters to this Holocaust survivor, expressing their pain. The relationship to Holocaust memory here is about safeguarding a loved one who has been killed: one letter, for instance, asks the Holocaust survivor to take care of their loved one. Writing to a deceased Holocaust survivor about a deceased relative now is not about Israelis being obsessed with history repeating itself: rather it is about victims of war finding comfort with others who know what it is like to experience total loss.
Yet it seems that the multidirectionality of seeing the Holocaust in relation to 7th October is a step too far for some despite the fact that many Holocaust survivors and their families were directly impacted and continue to be touched by 7th October and subsequent unfolding events. Many memorials to 7th October invoke the idea of “Never Again”; it is natural that the horrors of 7th October should evoke lessons learnt from the Holocaust. Recently, Dara Horn wrote a book with the title People Love Dead Jews, but given that so many Holocaust memorials have been vandalised since 7th October, one might assume there are people who do not love dead Jews any more than they do living ones. As “Never Again” has happened again and again it seems that we also need to “Never Forget” because we continue to find ways to understand the many different types of losses past and present. “Never Again” and “Never Forget” have become an obligation to bring the hostages home.
When Palestinian flags have been flown near to the museum, they disrupt Jewish and non-Jewish grieving of Jews and non-Jews who were murdered then and now. Not allowing the yellow ribbon on national flags also disrupts and denies an outward ability to mourn the generational connections between those who survived and were murdered in the Holocaust and those who survived and were murdered on 7th October.
