Holocaust tourism and what art has to say about it

New movies and a new book try to make sense of the Holocaust generations later

Jesse Eisenberg speaks onstage during a Screening of Searchlight Pictures' "A Real Pain" at Curzon Soho on February 01, 2025 in London, England
'A Real Pain,' a new film directed by and starring Jesse Eisenberg, is a 'Holocaust film set many years after the fact'
(Image credit: Tim P. Whitby / Getty Images)

A movie in which two cousins visit Majdanek, a Nazi concentration camp; a graphic novel in which the artist recounts firsthand tales of Holocaust survival; a film in which a father and daughter journey to Auschwitz: three works, all released in the last six months, all grappling with the legacy of the Holocaust.

Dark tourism refers to the visiting of "incidences of death, disaster and atrocity" made while still "within living memory," according to the term's coiners, authors John Lennon and Malcolm Foley. Could be Hiroshima; could be Chernobyl. Lately, it is also absolutely Dachau and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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Scott Hocker, The Week US

Scott Hocker is an award-winning freelance writer and editor at The Week Digital. He has written food, travel, culture and lifestyle stories for local, national and international publications for more than 20 years. Scott also has more than 15 years of experience creating, implementing and managing content initiatives while working across departments to grow companies. His most recent editorial post was as editor-in-chief of Liquor.com. Previously, he was the editor-in-chief of Tasting Table and a senior editor at San Francisco magazine.