http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/ssalbum/?content=1
Collection Scope: The exhibit consists of images of Nazi leadership at Auschwitz. The were taken by other SS officers. These images are a part of an album which belonged to Karl Hocker, the adjutant to the commander of the camp. The album was donated to the USHMM by a former American CIC officer who found the album in an
abandoned apartment in Frankfurt in 1946. Many of the images show officers engaged in formal events and meetings, while others show SS officers and SS female auxiliary officers during leisure activities. There is not one single fleeting image of a prisoner in this whole album, which presents a sharp and startling contrast to the other well-known photographic album, referred to as the Auschwitz Album. The Auschwitz album consists almost entirely of photographs taken at the train arrival ramp, where the newly arrived prisoners were separated into two groups - those chosen for labor and those selected for death.The Auschwitz Album was found by Lil Jacob, a young prisoner at the camp. She found the album in a table drawer while recovering from typhus in the former officers' quarters, after Auschwitz was liberated. Some of the photographs from this album were used as evidence in the Frankfurt Auschwitz proceedings, where Hocker was a defendant. Please visit the USHMM website for more information about the history of these two albums.
Object Characteristics: The Hocker album had not been disbound. The photographs have been scanned in situ. The digital exhibit viewer is invited to click on the "Explore the Album" button, which takes you to a larger view window for the photographs.
The physical size of the photos is apparent because you can see the pattern of the borders, which have been cut out with sewing scissors. All photographs are black and white pocket sized.Images of entire pages are also available but those do not seem to be of good quality, as the album is slanted and the lighting is less than ideal. The digital album photos (the ones available for viewing in a larger format) can not be downloaded as images and saved to a hard drive, while the little thumbnails that are inserted into the exhibit text can be saved. One of the album leaves has a triptych-type layout with three photographs of Karl Hocker lighting candles on the camp's Christmas tree, taken from different angles. It is quite chilling.
Metadata: The small thumbnails that are inserted into the text are hyperlinked to larger images, some are within the Hocker digital album others come from other sources within the USHMM archive. On each thumbnail there is a small caption that reads: "Larger photo and Caption". Captions contain a description of the scene pictured, some of these include dates. The images from the Hocker album and the Auschwitz album are designated as such. In certain cases there is also information on donors of the item, USHMM ownership notation and an associated catalog number . Within the text, many of the terms, places and events are hyperlinked the appropriate definitions page in the Holocaust Encyclopedia, which is a part of the USHMM website.
Possible Audience: The material in this exhibit is highly accessible, yet the historical information is specific and researched in depth. I think this exhibit is equally appropriate for the general public and for researchers. There is a video clip about the Hocker album and a podcast of a conversation with a USHMM archivist, which makes it seem that they are trying to appeal to a younger audience.
There is also a caption that you can click on, as you look through the digital images of the
Auschwitz album photos - "Do you recognize somebody?" This question could be meant for survivors or members of their families. I think that the exhibit and the website has a high level of intellectual sophistication, which makes it appropriate for historians and archivists. There is also a clear attempt in the exhibit text to refrain from heavily emotional and accusatory remarks about the SS officers.
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