Paper Short Abstract:

In my paper I would like to consider the problem of dealing with sensitive archives marked by violent practices, trying to reveal the complex and intricate contexts of contemporary research on visual documentation from the period of World War II. While discussing this problem I will refer to the source material from the German collection of the Sektion Rassen- und Volkstumsforschung Institut für Deutsche Ostarbeit (Section on Races and Ethnicity of the Institute for German Work in the East, SRV/IDO), which were produced by its staff (Nazi anthropologists and ethnologists) during racial and ethnological research conducted in selected localities in occupied Poland between 1940-1943. Based on my studies on the SRV/IDO collection and own experiences from meetings with witnesses of history, who were subjected to German racial research, I will draw attention to the ambiguity of Nazi photographic documentation, showing on one hand its scientific value and, at the same time, its dehumanizing character and involvement in the criminal policies of the Third Reich.

Paper Abstract:

In my paper I would like to consider the problem of dealing with sensitive archives marked by violent practices, trying to reveal the complex and intricate contexts of contemporary research on visual documentation from the period of World War II. While discussing this problem I will refer to the source material from the German collection of the Sektion Rassen- und Volkstumsforschung Institut für Deutsche Ostarbeit (Section on Races and Ethnicity of the Institute for German Work in the East, SRV/IDO), which were produced by its staff (Nazi anthropologists and ethnologists) during racial and ethnological research conducted in selected localities in occupied Poland between 1940-1943. Based on my studies on the SRV/IDO collection and own experiences from meetings with witnesses of history, who were subjected to German racial research, I will draw attention to the ambiguity of Nazi photographic documentation, showing on one hand its scientific value and, at the same time, its dehumanizing character and involvement in the criminal policies of the Third Reich.

In conclusion, I would like to consider ethical questions related to the ways in which archival materials tainted by the Nazi regime can be used in contemporary academic research and in the activities of public institutions tat collect 'depositions' of remembrance, such as museums.