I’ve visited the IWM London, Duxford and War Rooms museums and they are all excellent. I had not visited the IWM London since the 80s, but did so in May 2024, it has improved a lot in the meantime.
I was lucky enough to see the Spies, Lies and Deception exhibition as well as the Holocaust exhibition you write of.
The latter was incredibly powerful and poignant, all the more so as it did not focus on, until the very end, the actual death camps and the brutality of the Final Solution but the lengthy process that occurred in the two decades after WW1 and - as you describe it - the insidious way that Nazi antisemitism developed and percolated, and was normalised throughout all aspects of German society, including the judiciary, over that period.
Also evident from the material on display, posters, propaganda film footage and letters and personal histories was the capture of language to support the normalisation of the horrific persecution which occurred. A process - weaponising language - seen all too frequently, such as the casual and inappropriate use of powerful words like “genocide”.
Thanks for your comment Ian. I must have missed the Spies, Lies and Deception exhibition. As a lang time fan of Le Carre that would have been a not to be missed. That said there was an excellent exhibition on the Cold War at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh which was fascinating.
The penetration of Nazi anti-Semitism was truly horrifying.
Thanks for another informative article. I visited the Imperial War Museum in 1990 & 1991 while on my OE. I gather the Holocaust is a new permanent exhibition as I don't recall if from those visits.
I was glad to have the opportunity to visit Duxford and the RAF Museum at Hendon, amongst many of the places I went to as a much younger man of 26.
I agree that the Holocaust should never be forgotten and the current state of affairs arising from the Israel/Hamas conflict is a reality check that indeed history is being forgotten, or deliberately subverted for political purposes.
My mother's family are from Yorkshire. She was 11 years old when war was declared in 1939.
Consequently we grew up listening to true tales of rationing, air raids, and life carrying on during the war. My Uncle served in the Royal Engineers & my Grandparents were both involved in war production, working at the Avro factor at Yeadon, making parts for Lancaster bombers.
My Grandparents lived through WW1, The Great Depression and WW2 yet always had a cheerful disposition and they were never short of an interesting story to tell, as did my Mother and Uncle.
As a 10 year old I recall watching the Granada documentary series 'The World at War' narrated by Laurence Olivier. All the episodes were memorable, in particular the two episodes devoted to the Holocaust.
It is up to subsequent generations to ensure that history is recorded, told and shared and not forgotten.
Thank you for this piece, in your always-excellent writing. I appreciated the information about the growth and spread of anti-Semitism between the wars. As you say, we tend to be familiar with the Holocaust itself and can forget to think about how it could possibly have got to the point where hundreds of thousands of people thought it was acceptable to commit this true genocide. I appreciate that in your words there was an underlying warning about the present-day growth of anti-semitism. Also like you, I have felt much frustration and upset about the ignorant uses of the term 'genocide' and also the term 'Holocaust'. Those two people you mention in particular I have nothing but contempt for.
My experience is that people just fall for the narrative that "from the river to the sea" is part of, and I think this is because there's a long, complex history which they either don't know or are misinformed about. I'm always reluctant to enter conversations about why they think like they do because of the long history that I have trouble articulating when I'm on the spot. I do challenge the use of 'genocide' applied to the Israelis and the situation in Gaza. I hope your writing reaches a wide audience.
Thanks for your kind comment. I am so glad you enjoy my writing. I pondered on your suggestion about a wider audience and so I decided to revive an earlier blog that had languished since I have been using Substack. I have published this piece there and have also used a promotional facility to enable wider reach. Thanks for the suggestion - what was needed to inspire action.
You write so clearly, and I mean this sincerely because so many writers obfuscate. Have you read Philippe Sands' book 'East West Street' on the origins of genocide and crimes against humanity, and the differences, legally, between the two? The lawyers - both Jewish - Lauterpact and Lamkin? It's a good book and clarified my mind over these two issues. Youngsters and hysterics like Swarbrick would do well to study the topic, and the Nuremburg trials. After the Holocaust the world said it would never happen again. Hmmm. My father's family were Jewish, Dad born in London's East End, when most Cockneys were Irish or Jews. He came here with his parents and two brothers, no sisters so the Jewish line stopped. Then he served in the Middle East, 1939 to 1944, a long time, came back very pro-Palestine and anti-Jewish. As I grew up I couldn't understand why up until Marti Friedlander, and other NZ Jewish people told me back then you hid the fact you were Jewish. Now, sadly, as anti-Semitism rears its ugly head again and good people look away, history repeats.
Thanks for the comments in the first sentence. High praise indeed from a professional and very much appreciated.
I have read of Lauterpact and Lemkin and their points of view. One has to be careful with authorities in this field. They are so easily hi-jacked to support a particular ideology or interpretation.
An excellent piece, thank you for covering a wide field so well. I have visited quite a few Holocaust museums (and preserved camps) in Europe, but must add the IWM next time, as I was last there in the late 70's. The most harrowing were in Poland. The Swarbricks, Mintos and others who equate this with events in NZ and Israel are despicable and sick. . I have always wondered why Nazi judges escaped justice, if the West had more spine than a jellyfish, they would have advertised that such Judges handing down capital punishment would be facing a war crimes tribunal, with execution being probable. Their argument that they were acting iaw Nazi "law" would be instantly anulled. While I appreciate the IWM is the core of the piece, we should always remember other true genocides. Such as Armenia, China, Croatia/Serbia, Cambodia, Syria, Rwanda, and to a lesser extent, and/or older times the British in various places, the Spanish conquistadors in S America, and the Australian treatment of Aborigines. Mans inhumanity to fellow beings knows no limits.
I firmly believe there will be similar life in our galaxy of 100 to 200 billion suns, and companion planets, and often wonder if they are as evil.
Very well put. My visits to the IWM have stunned me, and the casual use of genocide by the woke nutters has illustrated their deliberate use of a lie.
Thanks for your comment Mike. Much appreciated.
Great article David.
I’ve visited the IWM London, Duxford and War Rooms museums and they are all excellent. I had not visited the IWM London since the 80s, but did so in May 2024, it has improved a lot in the meantime.
I was lucky enough to see the Spies, Lies and Deception exhibition as well as the Holocaust exhibition you write of.
The latter was incredibly powerful and poignant, all the more so as it did not focus on, until the very end, the actual death camps and the brutality of the Final Solution but the lengthy process that occurred in the two decades after WW1 and - as you describe it - the insidious way that Nazi antisemitism developed and percolated, and was normalised throughout all aspects of German society, including the judiciary, over that period.
Also evident from the material on display, posters, propaganda film footage and letters and personal histories was the capture of language to support the normalisation of the horrific persecution which occurred. A process - weaponising language - seen all too frequently, such as the casual and inappropriate use of powerful words like “genocide”.
Thanks for your comment Ian. I must have missed the Spies, Lies and Deception exhibition. As a lang time fan of Le Carre that would have been a not to be missed. That said there was an excellent exhibition on the Cold War at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh which was fascinating.
The penetration of Nazi anti-Semitism was truly horrifying.
Thanks for another informative article. I visited the Imperial War Museum in 1990 & 1991 while on my OE. I gather the Holocaust is a new permanent exhibition as I don't recall if from those visits.
I was glad to have the opportunity to visit Duxford and the RAF Museum at Hendon, amongst many of the places I went to as a much younger man of 26.
I agree that the Holocaust should never be forgotten and the current state of affairs arising from the Israel/Hamas conflict is a reality check that indeed history is being forgotten, or deliberately subverted for political purposes.
My mother's family are from Yorkshire. She was 11 years old when war was declared in 1939.
Consequently we grew up listening to true tales of rationing, air raids, and life carrying on during the war. My Uncle served in the Royal Engineers & my Grandparents were both involved in war production, working at the Avro factor at Yeadon, making parts for Lancaster bombers.
My Grandparents lived through WW1, The Great Depression and WW2 yet always had a cheerful disposition and they were never short of an interesting story to tell, as did my Mother and Uncle.
As a 10 year old I recall watching the Granada documentary series 'The World at War' narrated by Laurence Olivier. All the episodes were memorable, in particular the two episodes devoted to the Holocaust.
It is up to subsequent generations to ensure that history is recorded, told and shared and not forgotten.
Thanks Ken.
Yes, as far as I know the Holocaust exhibitionis permanent.
Thank you for this piece, in your always-excellent writing. I appreciated the information about the growth and spread of anti-Semitism between the wars. As you say, we tend to be familiar with the Holocaust itself and can forget to think about how it could possibly have got to the point where hundreds of thousands of people thought it was acceptable to commit this true genocide. I appreciate that in your words there was an underlying warning about the present-day growth of anti-semitism. Also like you, I have felt much frustration and upset about the ignorant uses of the term 'genocide' and also the term 'Holocaust'. Those two people you mention in particular I have nothing but contempt for.
My experience is that people just fall for the narrative that "from the river to the sea" is part of, and I think this is because there's a long, complex history which they either don't know or are misinformed about. I'm always reluctant to enter conversations about why they think like they do because of the long history that I have trouble articulating when I'm on the spot. I do challenge the use of 'genocide' applied to the Israelis and the situation in Gaza. I hope your writing reaches a wide audience.
Sheryl
Thanks for your kind comment. I am so glad you enjoy my writing. I pondered on your suggestion about a wider audience and so I decided to revive an earlier blog that had languished since I have been using Substack. I have published this piece there and have also used a promotional facility to enable wider reach. Thanks for the suggestion - what was needed to inspire action.
You write so clearly, and I mean this sincerely because so many writers obfuscate. Have you read Philippe Sands' book 'East West Street' on the origins of genocide and crimes against humanity, and the differences, legally, between the two? The lawyers - both Jewish - Lauterpact and Lamkin? It's a good book and clarified my mind over these two issues. Youngsters and hysterics like Swarbrick would do well to study the topic, and the Nuremburg trials. After the Holocaust the world said it would never happen again. Hmmm. My father's family were Jewish, Dad born in London's East End, when most Cockneys were Irish or Jews. He came here with his parents and two brothers, no sisters so the Jewish line stopped. Then he served in the Middle East, 1939 to 1944, a long time, came back very pro-Palestine and anti-Jewish. As I grew up I couldn't understand why up until Marti Friedlander, and other NZ Jewish people told me back then you hid the fact you were Jewish. Now, sadly, as anti-Semitism rears its ugly head again and good people look away, history repeats.
Deborah
Thanks for the comments in the first sentence. High praise indeed from a professional and very much appreciated.
I have read of Lauterpact and Lemkin and their points of view. One has to be careful with authorities in this field. They are so easily hi-jacked to support a particular ideology or interpretation.
Thanks for the article. Very informed and very balanced.
Thank you. Much appreciated
An excellent piece, thank you for covering a wide field so well. I have visited quite a few Holocaust museums (and preserved camps) in Europe, but must add the IWM next time, as I was last there in the late 70's. The most harrowing were in Poland. The Swarbricks, Mintos and others who equate this with events in NZ and Israel are despicable and sick. . I have always wondered why Nazi judges escaped justice, if the West had more spine than a jellyfish, they would have advertised that such Judges handing down capital punishment would be facing a war crimes tribunal, with execution being probable. Their argument that they were acting iaw Nazi "law" would be instantly anulled. While I appreciate the IWM is the core of the piece, we should always remember other true genocides. Such as Armenia, China, Croatia/Serbia, Cambodia, Syria, Rwanda, and to a lesser extent, and/or older times the British in various places, the Spanish conquistadors in S America, and the Australian treatment of Aborigines. Mans inhumanity to fellow beings knows no limits.
I firmly believe there will be similar life in our galaxy of 100 to 200 billion suns, and companion planets, and often wonder if they are as evil.