8/3/2019 Essay on Archaeological Issues

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Joshua’s essay

This essay is aimed to speak about two of what I believe are the main ethical issues of 

Archaeology and some sites that are linked to the issues which are preservation and

commemoration. At some points of this essay I may also link these with things like the

treatment of human remains that could still be found in the areas around the sites that I will

 be studying closer. as part of the two major issues.

Some of the sites I will discuss are the major concentration camps that are still intact

and whether they should be destroyed because of what happened there or whether they should

remain intact and well preserved so that every person can commemorate the victims of these

awful times and learn about a terrible time in the earth’s history.

To start with I would first like to discuss what I believe the issues are and what they

mean. The first issue that comes to mind in these two or even three issues is commemoration

now to me this is looking back at things that have happened and what can be learned to from

these times this however the correct definition from an online source defines

commemoration as:1. The act or an instance of commemorating 2. A ceremony or service in memory of a person or event 

The second issue to define is preservation and I describe this as keeping an object or 

 place the condition as close to what it was last seen like through preservation processes and 

in some cases restoration however I searched online and from an online source I found the

correct definition to be

1. To maintain in safety from injury, peril, or harm; protect.

2. To keep in perfect or unaltered condition; maintain unchanged.3. To keep or maintain intact 

The third issue which this essay may refer to at times is the treatment of human remains found in these areas around the sites and I can explain this issue bysaying that sometimes the way of removing human remains from sites is completelydisrespectful and should be done correctly

Before I speak about the topics I would like to explain the site I have chosenand that is Auschwitz one of the Major German Run concentration and exterminationcamps in world war two. I chose this site because of the horrible things thathappened there which have inspired me to write this essay on the preservation andcommemoration of such sites.

The first issue I would like to talk about with some specific examples iscommemoration with some sites like Auschwitz which was one of the concentrationcamps of world war 2 which were run by Germany. The reason I chose this site wasthat some people believe that these sites should not be commemorated because of what happened here however I found online that a surviving Jewish Female fromAuschwitz Birkenau the extermination camp saying that she does not likecommemorating such places or events. Her name was Lottie Weiss and she said:

“Auschwitz-Birkenau is “a place whose name has become part of everyday language as a synonym for 

unspeakable evil.”

At this time when she said those words during a commemoration ceremony she raised her arm

to reveal the “2065” on her arm which I believe will be a grim reminder of her horrible past.

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However on a trip to the Sydney Jewish museum to do some research for this assignment I spoke with

this lady and she said to me

“i will gladly go back to remember the one good time from the camp and that was when the Armies came

in and took control of the camp saving all of us from a possible inhumane death”

So this lady is proof that in the midst of all bad things that can happen there is usually a silver 

lining. Also this proves as a victim that many people who would not want to commemorate the bad

things they will gladly commemorate and remember the good things like the liberation of the camp.

Also whilst researching I discovered a story of a male Survivor and his story is quite eye opening to

what people had to do to survive and I believe that we should commemorate these things. This man’s

name is Bart Stern and his story is as follows:“So I was hiding out in the heap of dead bodies because in the last week when the crematoria

didn’t function at all, the bodies were just building up higher and higher. So there I was at nighttime, in thedaytime I was roaming around in the camp, and this is where I actually survived, January 27, I was one of thevery first, Birkenau was one of the very first camps being liberated. This was my, my survival chance.” Bart Stern

This story is from days just before the liberation.

My second ethical issue on Archaeology related to this site is preservation now thistopic is controversial to this specific site and that is because there are varying views. Theseviews are things like destroying the sites because of the unspeakable evil and destruction of nearly an entire race at this area and some other areas of German occupied Europe duringWorld War 2. The other view is that it should be restored or kept intact as it is today to teachthe future generations of people and historians who will read about the events such as theholocaust and possibly decide to visit these areas to gain more information about the eventsthat occurred at these places. From online research I have discovered that because of timeand decay from wind, water and other impurities in the air that have slowly decayed parts of the camp and that is why world officials have raised over $165 million and created a fund torestore the barracks, watchtowers, gas chambers and various other aspects for thisconcentration and extermination camp in Poland. All of this needs to happen if futuregenerations are to learn about the horrible time known as the holocaust. Those were the

reasons why preservation is important now I will follow on with other reasons and another issue relating to this site.

Another problem I found with this site if people ever decide to destroy this site wecome to another very complicated ethical issue related to Archaeology in and around theselected site. Research has shown and images have been uncovered that before theGermans cremated the victims of the holocaust in various Crematoria In each camp thebodies were buried in mass graves outside the walls of the camps. If this Specific camp wasto be destroyed and redeveloped into another building or other site the foundations will haveto be quite deep and because of this the human remains will need to be moved but thispresents a problem as many religions and cultures have conflicting views on this topic. Manypeople believe that once a person is buried and laid to rest their remains should stay there

and not be moved again. But then some of those people believe that because of thecircumstances of these mass graves and how the bodies were treated as they were justthrown into a giant pit and buried with no dignity or respect that they deserve a proper burial.However I believe this topic creates issues on the bodies being displayed in museums werethey are just left outside of the ground to decompose and be destroyed by constantmovement from one museum to another and people touching them constantly to apparentlypreserve them so they last longer which I believe makes the decompose faster.

Those were the issues and explanations behind them as to whether or not the Concentrationand extermination camp Auschwitz should be destroyed because of the unspeakable evilthat happened there and should it be preserved for future generations to learn about thepast and how the future governments will learn from mistakes so that terrible things like the

holocaust will never happen again.

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Personally I believe that Auschwitz should be preserved as a memory of allied forcesliberation from the terrible times and that they should be preserved so that future generationscan learn about the terrible time known as the holocaust.

I hope you are now well informed about this topic enough to make your owndecisions.

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Bibliography

Internet sites

1) http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=583&Itemid=37

2) http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

3) http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/auschwitz/4) http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/z/index.php?

option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=29

5) http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?

option=com_content&task=view&id=465&Itemid=8

6) http://www.jwire.com.au/news/auschwitz-liberation-commemorated/14681

7) http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/auschwitz/

8) http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20100127-249742/Survivors-

liberators-at-Auschwitz-commemoration

9) http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20100127-249742/Survivors-

liberators-at-Auschwitz-commemoration10) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/03/world/main7313882.shtml

11) http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?

Itemid=66&id=667&option=com_content&task=view

12) http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?

option=com_content&task=view&id=583&Itemid=37

Books

1) Catastrophe and crisis by Jeremy Kingston published by Aldus books London in 1979

People

1) Lottie Weiss From the Australian Jewish Museum