Italian Memory and Italian Memory Wars at Auschwitz
[Article]
Robert S. C. Gordon
Leiden
Brill
The Italian national memorial on the site of Auschwitz I was opened to the public in April 1980 and closed down in July 2011. The article examines the conception and genesis of the memorial in the 1970s, looking at the tensions and also the artistic richness of the project. It then examines in this light the public controversy that erupted around its proposed renovation, starting in 2008. It suggests a number of ways in which this unresolved debate throws light on key questions about Italy's historical and contemporary memorialization of the Shoah. The Italian national memorial on the site of Auschwitz I was opened to the public in April 1980 and closed down in July 2011. The article examines the conception and genesis of the memorial in the 1970s, looking at the tensions and also the artistic richness of the project. It then examines in this light the public controversy that erupted around its proposed renovation, starting in 2008. It suggests a number of ways in which this unresolved debate throws light on key questions about Italy's historical and contemporary memorialization of the Shoah.