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Opening of new Holocaust exhibition
26/01/2006
An exhibition which will form the basis of Scotland's permanent memorial to raise awareness of the Holocaust was opened today.
'Testimony', a photo-documentary exhibition produced for Scotland, includes photographs and moving, poignant stories from people who survived, or have a strong association with, the Holocaust and are now residents of Scotland.
This exhibition is designed to develop over time and will bring in more survivor testimonies as more people provide their own story. It will be a national resource of testimonies of Scottish survivors and will provide a permanent memorial for Scotland.
The opening will be attended by Mr Ephraim Borowski, Director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and a representative of the Director of Aushwitz-Birkenau in Poland Ms Wanda Hutny, Scottish survivors of the Holocaust and liberators.
Speaking before opening the exhibition, which will be temporarily displayed at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh for Holocaust Memorial Day 2006, Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:
"This is a powerful exhibition which has taken the strength and commitment of so many. This is a very personal insight where through the eyes of others we are reminded of the horrors of genocide and the brutality of man against fellow human beings.
"We know that some young people today are not aware of this atrocity. History teaches us powerful, important lessons and we must ensure that we are not complacent.
"The permanent memorial will stand as a lasting legacy for all those who perished and suffered on the brutal regimes of the death camps. We are indebted to the survivors for their testimonies, their courage and fortitude, and the lessons of the past that they teach."
The exhibition covers Auschwitz-Birkenau, other Holocaust locations, Germany pre the Nazis, reminds visitors that anyone labelled 'different' by the Nazis died within the camps and brings the legacy of the events up to the present time by including images of young people taking part in the 'March of the Living' - an annual march to remember the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
The memorial exhibition has been produced by Heartstone, the Scottish non-profit organisation challenging prejudice and intolerance, funded by the Executive and is a collaboration of many different organisations and individuals including:
- The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities
- The World War Two Experience Centre
- The 45 Aid Society
- The Weiner Library
- The Association of Jewish Refugees
- The Institute of Holocaust & Genocide Education Research
- The Holocaust Education Trust
- The Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive
- Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation
- Research Centre for Evacuee and War Child Studies
- Centre for German Jewish Studies
- Sir Martin Gilbert, author of 'The Boys'
As the exhibition evolves and continues as a further reminder of the need for vigilance and not complacency, it will also include new images and stories of other genocides which have taken place since the Holocaust.
The Scottish Executive is committed to supporting the development of a Holocaust museum which will contribute greatly to further education in this area. It is intended that this will provide the permanent home for the exhibition in the future.
The exhibition will be open to the general public on Friday 27 January and Saturday 28 January at the Biosphere, Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh.
Satellite exhibitions will simultaneously be opening in West Dunbartonshire and Aberdeenshire.
The testimonies in the exhibition were adapted by Paula Kitching of the London Jewish Cultural Centre.
The photographs produced for the testimonies were produced by Nick Sidle
Ms Wanda Hutny is the Senior Educational Advisor for the Auschwitz Education Centre and is attending the opening as the formal representative of the Director of Auschwitz. She will be joined by Dorota Cieplinska, an official guide at Auschwitz.
Testimony is funded by £56,000 from the Scottish Executive.
Deputy Communities Minister Johann Lamont will be representing Scotland at the UK commemorations being held in at Cardiff's Millennium Centre this evening.
27 January 2005 saw the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau. For the first time since 27 January was designated as the UK's Holocaust Memorial Day, this date falls on a Friday which has implications for a number of faiths. Consequently this year's events will take place on the evening of Thursday 26 January 2006. www.hmd.org.uk