The Auschwitz Album: How the Nazis Photographed Their Crimes

EVENT OVERVIEW:

The International French School (IFS) presents a conference titled The Auschwitz Album: How the Nazis Photographed Their Crimes, led by renowned Holocaust historian Tal Bruttmann.

This conference explores a unique collection of photographs taken at the very heart of Nazi crimes. Through the analysis of The Auschwitz Album, the lecture examines how images, apparently devoid of explicit violence, can themselves constitute an act of extreme violence.

Composed of 197 photographs discovered by Lili Jacob, the album documents the arrival of Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau. These images are known worldwide and have been widely used in history textbooks and during the Auschwitz trials. Intended by SS authorities to demonstrate the “efficiency” of the camp, they functioned as tools of dehumanisation and humiliation.

By analysing these photographs, Tal Bruttmann, together with Stefan Hördler and Christoph Kreutzmüller, reveals what often escapes first impressions:
“This album was not, and is not, merely a staged representation; it is also part of the crime.”

This essential conference invites reflection on the power of images in history and the gaze imposed on those arriving on the Judenrampe at the Birkenau killing centre.

LECTURE DETAILS:

• DATE: Friday, 6 March 2026
• TIME: 7:00 PM
• LOCATION: Amphitheatre 3000

SPEAKER:

Tal Bruttmann, historian of the Holocaust and antisemitism, and a specialist of the “Final Solution” in Europe. His research focuses on Nazi policies of persecution, genocide, and the use of visual sources in understanding the Shoah.

MODERATORS: Sofia Haynes and Erwanna Caudal, Year 12 (Terminale) students, as part of the PEAC (Artistic and Cultural Education Programme)

OPEN TO THE ENTIRE IFS COMMUNITY!