A Historical Guide to Auschwitz
Publisher
:
DMPA
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782746714847
Description
Information about the concentration camps at Auschwitz is widely available; less documented is a broader Nazi goal of turning an entire town into a model Nazi world under the control of the SS. A Historical Guide to Auschwitz is the first published work to describe not only the camps but also the broader and uglier plans for the location.
The area concentration camps—Auschwitz I, Monowitz, and Birkenau—and the Birkenau extermination center are well-known historical entities. The evidence of their existence and their workings has been revealed through German and non-German documents and testimonies, along with the archeological remains found during restoration.
Less well-known is that the Nazis had planned to turn the town of Oswiecim into a model National-Socialist city complete with villas for the SS and their families, administrative buildings, road and railway connections to the rest of Germany, mines, factories, agriculture and pisciculture, and an extermination camp for the Jews and other “undesirables.” Portions of construction for this larger plan remain today, mostly just outside of the gates of the current historical site.
The authors have developed a concise, factual, and chronological history of “greater” Auschwitz. They include the remaining buildings, now part of the museum, and show too the evidence of what the town was supposed to become. The book, complete with photographs, diagrams, glossary, bibliography, biographies, a chronology, an index of place names, and practical information, is an important and necessary tool for preserving the memory of those who lived and died on this ground. It will be sold at the Auschwitz Museum bookshop.
Author
Jean-François Forges :
Jean-François Forges is the author of Éduquer contre Auschwitz (ESF éditeur, 1997) and the award-winning 1914-1998: Le travail de mémoire (ESF éditeur, 1998) as well as articles on the preservation of memory. He is a member of the education department of the Maison d’Izieu, and also a member of the education and training division of the Mémorial de la Shoah.
Pierre-Jérôme Biscarat :
Pierre-Jerôme Biscarat is the author of Les enfants d’Izieu, 6 avril 1944. Un crime contre l’humanité (Le Dauphiné, 2003) and Dans la tourmente de la Shoah. Les enfants d’Izieu (Michel Lafon, 2008). He is a member of the education department of the Maison d’Izieu, the memorial to the Jewish children of Izieu who were victims of the Nazis.
|