Covid-19 has changed everything. The way we see other people. The activities we do, or choose not to do. What we touch and what we don\u2019t. Where we go, where we can\u2019t go. In short, it has changed the way we live.<\/p>\n
But despite the limitations (of which there are certainly many), there have also been pockets of good news during this difficult time. I\u2019ve seen family members get closer\u2014both those in close physical proximity and also those in distant, but close virtual contact. I have also seen the way people try to help one another, making extra efforts to connect. As we pass each other on streets or park trails, we seem to smile more and greet each other more enthusiastically, masked and gloved as we are, grateful that we are seeing another person (I think this is especially true for those sheltering in isolation\u2014like me). <\/p>\n
In addition, I have just received two pieces of great news regarding the superb exhibition, currently on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, titled \u201cAuschwitz\u2014Not Long Ago, Not Far Away\u201d:<\/p>\n
1-The exhibit will be extended until December 31, 2020! It had already been extended once before, (it was supposed to close this past January 1), but because of massive crowds, it was extended until the end of the summer. However, with COVID closing all the museums, and shutting out thousands of people from the museum, there has just been a new announcement that this exhibit can now be seen until the end of the year. <\/p>\n
Our photos are included in a very strategic location on the museum\u2019s 3rd floor. With a title like \u201cLives Once Lived\u201d, the visitor literally walks into this display of photos that Jews carried with them to Auschwitz-Birkenau, to remember the happiest moments of their lives. These photos are gripping, uplifting, and heartbreaking, all at once. By the way, perpendicular to this wall of beautiful photos from \u201cThe Last Album\u201d collection are photos that can only be described as \u2018cheerful, frolicking Nazis, in their free time.\u201d It\u2019s a powerful positioning: on one wall, innocent Jews before they were killed, in the beautiful photos they chose for their own remembering, and on the adjacent wall, the images of the perpetrators who killed them. <\/p>\n
Having this exhibit extended is great news for us all!<\/p>\n
2-More good news: In addition to the extension, this exhibit has just won a prestigious award from the European Union, and especially for its educational component. Luis Ferreio, head of Musealia (Note: Musealia is the organization that commissioned this Auschwitz exhibition) has just announced: <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve received a major recognition for our traveling exhibition \u201cAuschwitz\u2014Not Long Ago, Not Far Away\u201d. We\u2019re one of the winners in the European Heritage Awards \/ Europa Nostra Awards 2020\u2014the most prestigious awards in the field of European heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luis continues:
\n\u201cThe exhibition won in the Education, Training and Awareness-Raising category and contains hundreds of original artifacts, which help audiences explore the complex story of the German Nazi\u2019s largest concentration camp and extermination centre\u2014a place where close to 1.1 million people were killed, mostly Jews, as well as Poles, Roma and Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war and others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe awards were launched by the European Commission in 2002, are funded by the European Union\u2019s Creative Europe program and run by Europa Nostra, a pan-European network of heritage organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The jury said the exhibition \u201cpreserves the memory of one of the worst episodes in the history of humanity and is based on deep, scientific, historical research. It succeeded in recreating the emotional experience of visiting the real site, which is challenging for a traveling exhibition and is thanks in part to the richness of the content.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe exhibition is the result of years of intense work by our teams at Musealia and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. We\u2019re incredibly grateful to all the curators (AW\u2019s note\u2014especially Chief Curator, Robert Jan van Pelt), designers, educators, writers, conservators and many others who\u2019ve made this award possible\u2014as well as to the more than 20 international institutions that have loaned us many of the important artifacts on display (Note: One of these 20 institutions is \u201cEyes from the Ashes Foundation\u201d and Ann Weiss).<\/p>\n
Luis Ferreiro concludes by saying, \u201cThis recognition encourages us to carry on preserving this essential common heritage. Europe is constructed on the moral ruins of Auschwitz: it\u2019s not possible to understand the freedom, democracy and safety we share today, without confronting it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Congratulations to Musealia and \u201cAuschwitz\u2014Not Long Ago, Not Far Away\u201d!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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