Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Theme Index/Museum Index 2016: Global Attractions Attendance Report, by Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), Economics practice at AECOM. 2017

In the USA and Europe: The Most-Visited Museums Perpetuate and Reinforce the Preeminence of the Jews’ Holocaust Over the Genocides of All Other Peoples

My review is that of the 2017 edition, published in May 2018.

AMONG THE TOP AMERICAN MUSEUMS, THE HOLOCAUST GETS MORE ATTENTION THAN THE GENOCIDE OF ANY OTHER PEOPLE

In 2017, the 20 most-attended museums in the USA had an aggregate of 59 million visitors. (p. 69). The USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum), moreover in the very capital of the USA, Washington D. C., ranks 13th with its 1.7 million visitors in 2017. (p. 69). The most-visited American museums are largely about science and art. However, pointedly, none of the 20 most-visited U. S. Museums, with the exception of the USHMM, is a genocide memorial museum!

A caveat: In late 2016, the NMAAHC (National Museum of African American History and Culture) opened in Washington D. C. It had 2.4 million visitors in 2017 (p. 69), eclipsing the 1.7 million visitors to the USHMM. However, this number must be kept in perspective. Consider the novelty of the NMAAHC, the relatively-large African-American population of the USA and especially the Washington, D. C., area, and the fact that the NMAAHC, unlike Holocaust memorial museums, is not centered on suffering and genocide.

IS POLAND, IN THE WESTERN MIND, LARGELY DEFINED IN TERMS OF THE JEWS AND THEIR HOLOCAUST?

In 2017, the 20 most-attended museums in Europe had an aggregate of nearly 76 million visitors. (p. 73). Of these 20, only one is in Poland, and it is in 19th place–The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Oswiecim, Poland, with its 2.1 million visitors in 2017 (p. 73).

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum is the only one of the 20 most-visited European museums that is a genocide memorial museum. And, while it features the Polokaust as well as the Holocaust, it is not because of Polish sufferings that it attracts so many non-Polish visitors!