There are many sites where you can see the darker side of human history in Europe. Here, Jennifer Dawson considers some such sites - and why it is important for them to detail terrible events sensitively.
Grbavica, a neighbourhood in Sarajevo, in March 1996.
Through organizations like the EU, Europe has managed to keep conflicts to an absolute minimum since the end of World oWar 2. However, life wasn’t always as pleasant. Both world wars created unprecedented levels of fatalities, and the entire history of the continent, spanning back as far as written history exists, is one of almost non-stop conflict. As a result, there is a huge amount of dark history to be experienced in Europe, and due to the desire and ability of many nations to preserve and present that history, it can be explored in an ethical and in-depth manner.
Auschwitz, Poland
World War 2 is the bloodiest conflict in history. Not only did many individuals lose their lives in military fighting, but the total war nature of the conflict meant that tens of millions of civilians died, too. Many of these civilians were murdered in genocides and other ideological killings. The relative recency of the conflict has made it relatively straightforward to preserve historical sites, and that makes it easier to explore them via tourism. Furthermore, whereas some dark tourism - where places of historic relevance are explored through tourism - can be unethical, many of the most important WW2 monuments have been maintained sensitively. A notable example of this is at the Auschwitz concentration camp memorial, near Oświęcim, Poland. Tourists are provided with a guided tour of the entire work camp, Auschwitz, and Birkenau. It is a shocking but educational experience.
Siege of Sarajevo
Sarajevo is a city that has seen a long history of conflict, yet has endured to become one of the most beautiful places in Europe. Arguably the place where east-meets-west, it’s a melting pot of Islam, Christianity, and many ethnicities and nationalities. It was also the namesake of the Siege of Sarajevo, which at 1,425 days, was one of the longest modern sieges. According to a study published on Taylor & Francis Online, the battle sites and memories of the war, and the dark period it encompassed that involved ethnic cleansing, have been sensitively maintained to provide a thought-provoking experience.
Pripyat, Ukraine
No conversation on dark tourism can be complete without a nod to Pripyat - not least because there still remains some level of danger. Pripyat is the town attached to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the reactor of which experienced an accident which caused major repercussions within the then USSR and internationally. While Ukraine is currently off-limits due to the ongoing conflict there, in times of peace, Pripyat has a burgeoning tourist industry with rigorous safeguards against the still-radioactive environment there. It’s a place to experience the darker side of human engineering, and a cautionary tale in the current age of rapid, ceaseless innovation.
Experiencing the world through dark tourism is a great way to take an alternative view of the world and its history. It enables you to get in close with history. However, it does need to be accomplished sensitively - but, to date, that’s just what most sites have done.
