Greetings from Auschwitz

Greetings from Auschwitz is an intimate view of the failure of image and language to address the trauma caused by one of the greatest catastrophes in human history. Postcards made after the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau became a tourist attraction are assembled by Polish artist and curator Pawe Szypulski in this small, quiet book. Nearly all the postcards reproduced here were once in circulation, written and sent to families, friends and acquaintances. The oldest dates from 1947, only two years after the liberation of the camp. On one a panorama of the death camp, crematorium chimney and entrance gate, a man wrote greetings from Auschwitz . . . Everything is fine, all I miss is you and the sun. Silence is one of the central themes of Holocaust-related art, and the question of what is appropriate is always crucial. The postcards in Szypulski s collection illustrate a chatty and inappropriate narrative and deepen the horror.