UNEARTHING MATERIAL CULTURE: HOLOCAUST OBJECT BIOGRAPHIES AS EVIDENCE OF LIFE

Archaeological material culture provides interpretations regarding past human life. Increasingly this material culture has been used to explore the personal life and the biographies of individuals immersed in the past (eg Joy 2009; Grassby 2005).
This dissertation has applied this premise to material culture associated with the Holocaust and has explored the possibility of an affective dissemination format with the inclusion of object biographies. The research hypothesis stated “a Holocaust artefact when accompanied by an object biography has a greater emotional affect on an audience than an object without a biography”. The data from a questionnaire allowed a comparison of 120 participant emotional responses to four objects with a biography to the responses to six objects without a biography. The data also encouraged supplementary enquiries exploring the affect of different object types and how participant gender and age impacts on emotional responses to Holocaust artefacts.
The research results demonstrated that there is a significant difference between the emotional responses for items with and without an object biography; items with an object biography produced a higher emotional response from participants. The results also demonstrated a correlation between Holocaust object type and emotional response; higher emotional responses did correlate with personal items, items associated with a specific group and sentimental items. Additionally, a weak but positive correlation with gender and emotional response was identified. A significant difference between male and female emotional responses was determined indicating that female participants had higher emotional response scores. Finally, a significant difference was identified between the three participant age groups and their emotional responses.
This research considers the use of effective exhibits across Holocaust museum sites and observer engagement and empathy when presented with displays emphasising the scale of death. The experience of ‘shock’ may limit an emotional connection with an individual immersed in the Holocaust.