Interrogating images of Bergen Belsen Camp: past, present and future
Lead Research Organisation:
Northumbria University
Department Name: Fac of Arts, Design and Social Sciences
Abstract
When British troops entered Bergen Belsen camp in Germany in 1945 they were accompanied by the British Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU). Images captured by
the AFPU of the thousands of dead and dying prisoners have become some of the most familiar images of the Holocaust, perhaps most infamously the image of bodies being
bulldozed into a mass grave. This research will investigate the 'life' (Appadurai 1986) of the Belsen photographs in British museums and archives. How have they been used, documented, interpreted and exhibited?
In what ways have they been mobilised to tell stories about the Holocaust and Britain's role in the Second World War? What has been the effect on what is understood about these images?
Answering these questions will support heritage interpretations of these collections and other photography collections in the future.
Despite the important role some of the Belsen images have played in the formation of narratives in Britain about the Second World War (e.g. Schulze 2014) and their use in museums (for example IWM London used a huge print of the bulldozer image in their Holocaust Galleries) there has been very little research about the images or their use and interpretation
in exhibitions about the Holocaust. There has been no systematic study of the images as material objects that exist in a network of associated materials (caption sheets, album annotations, letters etc.).
The existing research focuses mainly on the content of the AFPU's film images, their impact on British audiences in 1945 and the early media narratives in the immediate aftermath of liberation (Caven 2001, Coates 2016, Haggith 2006).
Significance
This research addresses questions that, I believe, are live and immediate for the museum sector. Adjaye Associates, designers of the new Holocaust Memorialdue to open in 2021 included
Belsen in the 'Open Archive' section in their design. IWM has stated that some of the revisions (due 2020) to its Holocaust galleries will give the narrative "a British slant within the international outlook of the main storyline". Manchester's Jewish Museum, which is also being renovated,has indicated the importance of it having a Holocaust gallery in the new museum(due 2020). It seems highly likely that Belsen, as the mostsignificantNazi camp
liberated by British troops, will feature in these new works. It's relevance goes beyond museum depictions of the Holocaust and will interrogate what museum exhibitions that encourage and anticipate visual literacy from their audiences would look like.
the AFPU of the thousands of dead and dying prisoners have become some of the most familiar images of the Holocaust, perhaps most infamously the image of bodies being
bulldozed into a mass grave. This research will investigate the 'life' (Appadurai 1986) of the Belsen photographs in British museums and archives. How have they been used, documented, interpreted and exhibited?
In what ways have they been mobilised to tell stories about the Holocaust and Britain's role in the Second World War? What has been the effect on what is understood about these images?
Answering these questions will support heritage interpretations of these collections and other photography collections in the future.
Despite the important role some of the Belsen images have played in the formation of narratives in Britain about the Second World War (e.g. Schulze 2014) and their use in museums (for example IWM London used a huge print of the bulldozer image in their Holocaust Galleries) there has been very little research about the images or their use and interpretation
in exhibitions about the Holocaust. There has been no systematic study of the images as material objects that exist in a network of associated materials (caption sheets, album annotations, letters etc.).
The existing research focuses mainly on the content of the AFPU's film images, their impact on British audiences in 1945 and the early media narratives in the immediate aftermath of liberation (Caven 2001, Coates 2016, Haggith 2006).
Significance
This research addresses questions that, I believe, are live and immediate for the museum sector. Adjaye Associates, designers of the new Holocaust Memorialdue to open in 2021 included
Belsen in the 'Open Archive' section in their design. IWM has stated that some of the revisions (due 2020) to its Holocaust galleries will give the narrative "a British slant within the international outlook of the main storyline". Manchester's Jewish Museum, which is also being renovated,has indicated the importance of it having a Holocaust gallery in the new museum(due 2020). It seems highly likely that Belsen, as the mostsignificantNazi camp
liberated by British troops, will feature in these new works. It's relevance goes beyond museum depictions of the Holocaust and will interrogate what museum exhibitions that encourage and anticipate visual literacy from their audiences would look like.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Tom Lawson (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Lisa Peatfield (Student) |