According to Paweł Sawicki of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in southern Poland, the exhibition traces the development of Nazi ideology and the transformation of the Polish town of Oświęcim into the world's largest concentration and extermination camp during World War II.
More than 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans in Auschwitz, mostly European Jews, but also Poles, Sinti, Roma, Soviet POWs and groups persecuted under Nazi ideology such as the disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals.
Sawicki said that visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum can see hundreds of artifacts, including suitcases, eyeglasses, shoes and other personal items belonging to Auschwitz survivors and victims.
Items on display include concrete posts from the Auschwitz camp fence, fragments of an original prisoner barrack, and possessions of Rudolf Höss, the camp's first and longest-serving commandant.
Also on display are concrete posts from the Auschwitz camp fence, fragments of an original prisoner barrack, and possessions of Rudolf Höss, the camp's first and longest-serving commandant.
In addition to exhibits from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Auschwitz. Not So Long Ago. Not So Far Away brings together artifacts from more than 20 institutions, museums, and private collections around the world. These include the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Wiener Library, and memorial sites such as Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen and Westerbork.
In a statement for the media, Piotr Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, said the exhibition "forces us to confront ourselves with the terrifying chapter in humankind's history and challenges us to build a future free of antisemitism, racism, hate and dehumanization."
Cywiński added: "In building such a future the role of memory is of the utmost importance."
The Royal Ontario Museum writes on its website that the exhibition "underscores a critical need to understand the underlying conditions that allowed the Holocaust to happen."
By reflecting on the past, visitors are encouraged to "consider their role in creating a more inclusive and tolerant society."
The exhibition runs at the Royal Ontario Museum until September 1.
It has previously been shown in Spain, Sweden and the United States.
(mk/gs)