[Special Issue] Memory of the Holocaust Throughout Europe: A Painting
Kalea Palmer
The painting, Memory of the Holocaust Throughout Europe (Palmer), focuses on four significant sites related to the Holocaust in Austria, Slovenia, and Hungary. The squares on the left demonstrate the divergent approaches of Austria and then Yugoslavia [Slovenia] in preserving the Loibl satellite concentration camps.
The top left is the North Loibl Camp which is located in Austria. The forest became overgrown and covered the satellite camp following the end of the Second World War. Immediately after the Second World War there was a widespread notion in Austria that Austrians were the first victims of the Nazi Party, rather than active perpetrators as they are now understood (Bailer). This notion led to concentration camps like North Loibl Camp becoming neglected and overgrown, rather than preserved as sites of national memory. Austria began to officially recognize its involvement in the 1980’s and 1990’s. It was not until 2008 that the Austrian government, with volunteers, cleaned up the main part of the North Loibl camp from the trees, moss, and weeds (Mauthausen Guides, “Satellite Camp Loibl North”).
The bottom left of the painting shows the South Loibl Camp on the Slovenian side of the border. In 1954, the South Loibl camp was declared a monument and a memorial was established to preserve the satellite camp and the memory of Nazi Occupation (Mauthausen Guides, “Satellite Camp Loibl South”).
The upper right square shows the juxtaposition of the Shoah Memorial and Jordanhaus plaque in Vienna’s Judenplatz. The Shoah Memorial was created by English artist Rachel Whiteread in 2000, to symbolize the pain and brutality the Jews faced during the Second World War. Across the square, on Jordanhaus, there is a plaque that commemorates the fires of Wiener Gesera, which took place in 1420-1421 when Jews were persecuted in the city of Vienna (Krauss).
Finally, the bottom right quadrant of the painting is intended to spark conversation about the complex narrative surrounding the Német Megszállás Áldozatainak in Budapest, Hungary. Német Megszállás Áldozatainak is a monument to represent the suffering of Hungarians at the hands of the Germans in 1944. Német Megszállás Áldozatainak shows the Hungarian people, represented by archangel Gabriel, being attacked by an eagle, the eagle symbolized from Germany’s coat of arms. However, the monument does not mention victims of the Holocaust. The Német Megszállás Áldozatainak seems to prioritize the suffering of the Hungarian nation over bringing awareness to the lives of Hungarian Jews. The Jewish community in Budapest has orchestrated a counter-memorial to represent the victims of the Holocaust. Hungary transported 430,000 Jews to concentration camps in less than two months, which was a more accelerated rate of transport than any other European country.However, Hungary rarely reflects on that narrative, leading scholars to refer to their memory culture as one of “non-remembering” (Pető 471). Hungarian historian Andrea Petődefines “non-remembering” as “a conscious process of forgetting and replacing painful memories with less painful ones”(472). The Memory of the Holocaust Throughout Europe demonstrates a tangible representation of the diverse ways in which countries remember or forget their roles in history.
Works cited
Bailer, Brigitte. “Aspects of Austria’s Dealing with Her National Socialist Past.” Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), 2009, https://www.doew.at/cms/download/ehq6e/bailer.pdf
“Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial.” World Jewish Travel, 2023, https://worldjewishtravel.org/listing/judenplatz-holocaust-memorial/
Krauss, S. “Wiener Gesera.” Jewish Virtual Library, 2008, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/wiener-gesera
Mauthausen Guides. “Satellite Camp Loibl North.” MKÖ, 2023, https://www.mauthausen-guides.at/en/subcamp/satellite-camp-loibl-north
---. “Satellite Camp Loibl South.” MKÖ, 2023, https://www.mauthausen-guides.at/en/subcamp/satellite-camp-loibl-south
Pető, Andrea. “‘Non-Remembering’ the Holocaust in Hungary and Poland.” Polin Studies in Polish Jewry, vol. 31, 2019, pp. 471–80, https://muse.jhu.edu/related_content?type=article&id=713514
Kalea Palmer
Picture: “Masks” by Cometstarmoon on Flickr. Licensed under CC2.0. No changes have been made.
