Aura versus Dialogue. Displaying Nazi Objects in the Exhibition "Disposing of Hitler: Out of the Cellar, Into the Museum"

Abstract

What should we do with the remnants of Nazism? Should we dispose of them? Is it acceptable to sell them at a flea market or on the internet? At what point does memory become nostalgia, or even illegal neo-Nazi activity? Objects related to Nazism get discovered in various places and contexts – whether in one’s own basement, at flea markets or an online portal, in the estate of relatives or even in the trash. Even if one’s own family history is not entangled with the Nazi regime, such finds trigger feelings ranging from shame to detachment and even fascination. The exhibition "Disposing of Hitler. Out of the Cellar, Into the Museum", House of Austrian History ("Hitler entsorgen. Vom Keller ins Museum", Haus der Geschichte Österreich) asks about the social responsibility in dealing with relics of Nazism and explores the question of how these things can strengthen democratic consciousness in the present.