IN PICTURES | Durban exhibition depicts atrocities perpetrated by Nazis at Auschwitz

27 April 2023 - 12:46 By SANDILE NDLOVU
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Lukasz Lipinski talks about the photographs during a tour at Seeing Auschwitz exhibition in Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
Lukasz Lipinski talks about the photographs during a tour at Seeing Auschwitz exhibition in Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
Image: SANDILE NDLOVU

A rare collection of photographs depicting the horrors the atrocities perpetrated by Nazi Germany at the Auschwitz camp is on show at the Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre.

The “Seeing Auschwitz” art exhibition aims to “invite visitors to reflect on the true dimension of the horrors” committed by Nazis in a bid to systematically exterminate Jews.

It showcases a collection of over 100 images of Jews killed in the Auschwitz camp and the perpetrators and provides an insight into life at the camp before World War 2.

Created by the Spanish company Musealia together with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland, the “Seeing Auschwitz” exhibition consists of photographs sourced from both the victims and perpetrators and presents audiovisual testimonies of survivors as well as the virtual tour of the Auschwitz camp.

A deportation of Hungarian Jews arrives via cattle cars to Auschwitz. Hours later these people would be killed in the gas chambers.
A deportation of Hungarian Jews arrives via cattle cars to Auschwitz. Hours later these people would be killed in the gas chambers.
Image: SUPPLIED

Presenting the exhibition on Tuesday, tour guide Lukasz Lipinski said the significance of it is to teach people the effects of these atrocities and ensure that history doesn't repeat itself in future.

“The lesson from this is about tolerance, how not to separate people into groups and tell them one group is better than the other. It's also about how to not be a bystander to injustices,” he said.

“If you don't take this lesson then it will keep repeating. Unfortunately, after the (world) war history has been repeated many times.

“It's our responsibility to teach young people and the next generations about the effects and about how it started because it was a process that took many years (to when it became a full on extermination).”

The exhibition was launched on Monday and it will run “for a limited time” at the DHGC. Entrance is free.

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Lukasz Lipinski talks about the photographs during a tour at Seeing Auschwitz exhibition in Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
Lukasz Lipinski talks about the photographs during a tour at Seeing Auschwitz exhibition in Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
Image: SANDILE NDLOVU
Perpetrators and victims at the train station.
Perpetrators and victims at the train station.
Image: SUPPLIED
An aerial photograph taken by allied force planes.
An aerial photograph taken by allied force planes.
Image: SUPPLIED
Prisoners at the camp sift through the personal belongings taken from victims moments before they were sent to the gas chambers. Jews arriving at Auschwitz believed they were being resettled and didn’t realise they were about to be murdered in the death camp.
Prisoners at the camp sift through the personal belongings taken from victims moments before they were sent to the gas chambers. Jews arriving at Auschwitz believed they were being resettled and didn’t realise they were about to be murdered in the death camp.
Image: SUPPLIED
The Nazis documented every aspect of their murderous system and took mugshots off each prisoner. Photo: Supplied
The Nazis documented every aspect of their murderous system and took mugshots off each prisoner. Photo: Supplied
Image: SUPPLIED
Lukasz Lipinski talks about the photographs during a tour at Seeing Auschwitz exhibition in Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
Lukasz Lipinski talks about the photographs during a tour at Seeing Auschwitz exhibition in Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
Image: SANDILE NDLOVU

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