Horror, Hope, and the Promise of “Never Again”: A Cultural Analysis of Swedish Holocaust Exhibition Narratives

Abstract: This thesis is based on an applied cultural analysis of a Swedish Holocaust exhibition displaying artefacts brought to southern Sweden by survivors of a concentration camp. The thesis aims to analyse and question different, seemingly contradictory narratives connected to this exhibition in order to find out how and why museums and their educators tell Holocaust narratives and how they want those to be read by (young) visitors. This aim leads to a deeper understanding of the objective of Holocaust education in a museum and its (applied) relevance in Sweden today. The following research questions are asked: What narratives can be found in a Swedish Holocaust exhibition? How do layouts, objects, and tour guides tell their narratives? What intentions and aims for the present are transferred by those narratives? And how are visitors supposed to use the learnings of the narratives today? Drawing on theories of narratives, trauma, and objects in relation to emotions, the thesis highlights intentions of narratives like “never again” and their anticipated use in visitors’ everyday life. The analysis and its findings show in conclusion the need for telling and showing different, entangled narrative perspectives, and the necessity of critical reflection and transparency of narrative intentions.