Friday, October 16, 2009

Auschwitz facebook fanpage?

According to Mother Jones Magazine a facebook page memorializing Auschwitz had been posted. The creators' goal was to educate young and old about the Holocaust and to decrease the amount of Holocaust deniers.

The creators of the site posted a notice to those who consider a facebook about the Holocaust trivializing.

Auschwitz Memorial is experimenting with new ways of reaching and educating people - such as Facebook. There are many contemporary issues connected with historical memory and there are contemporary problems that we must solve now, after 65 years. The question is - should Auschwitz Memorial, as an institution, be closed for such new possibilities as Facebook with millions of people?

If you were to go looking for the site it may have been difficult to find as there are actually many other facebook pages that are dedicated to this topic. Today Mother Jones Magazine updated their post to say that just today the page has been taken down and it was done so only after a few days of existing. Mother Jones said it had been taken down with no explanation and after it had garered 2,000 members. However, when I clicked on the link provided by Mother Jones Magazine, I saw that the page is up again and has now reached to over 6,000 members. To view the page click here. We'll see if the page stays.

In addition to the facebook page, The Auschwitz Memorial has launched a YouTube channel dedicated to educating us all.


For My Little Son - Aushwitz Memorial
The Museum has obtained a valuable donation consisting of items belonging to former prisoner Genowefa Marczewska and her six-year-old son, Andrzej. The Germans deported the Marczewski family from Warsaw to Auschwitz on August 12, 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising.

I do not think that a facebook page is trivializing the experience of the Holocaust. Facebook has been utilized by artists and politicians to educate, recruit and promote. I think that it is also a good way to get young people involved.

What do you think?

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