According to Paweł Sawicki from the Auschwitz Memorial 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.
More than 1.1 million people were murdered by the Germans at Auschwitz, primarily European Jews, but also Poles, Sinti, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and other groups persecuted under Nazi ideology, including the disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals.
Sawicki noted that visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum can view hundreds of artifacts, such as suitcases, eyeglasses, shoes and other personal belongings of Auschwitz survivors and victims.
Also on display are concrete posts from the camp’s fence, fragments of an original prisoner barrack, and a desk along with other possessions of Rudolf Höss, the first and longest-serving Auschwitz commandant.
In addition to items from the Auschwitz Memorial Museum, the exhibition features artifacts from over 20 institutions, museums and private collections worldwide, including Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Wiener Library and memorial sites in Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen and Westerbork.
In a statement for the media, Piotr Cywiński, the director of the Auschwitz Museum, has said that the exhibition "forces us to confront ourselves with the terrifying chapter in humankind’s history and puts in front of us the challenge of building a future free of anti-Semitism, racism, hate and dehumanization."
Cywiński added: "In building such a future the role of memory is of utmost importance."
The Royal Ontario Museum writes on its website: "Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away underscores a critical need to understand the underlying conditions that allowed the Holocaust to happen. By reflecting on the past, visitors are invited 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 displayed in Spain, Sweden and the United States.
(mk/ał)