Laughter in Auschwitz; or, How Psychology Can Help Understand the Breaking of Taboos at the Holocaust Memorial

Non-normative behavior at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum is often met with outrage and condemnation, including from the Polish media.The research described in this article checked whether reactions such as laughter or using a phone - among other things, to take photographs - could serve a regulatory function for visitors to the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau rather than indicating disrespect for Holocaust victims. We conducted in-depth interviews with the Museum's guides and observed museum visitors. In this way, we found that several non-normative reactions to Holocaust testimony appear quite commonly among visitors. Although these are stigmatized by the guides, the reactions appear adaptive in that they distance visitors from the potentially traumatizing Holocaust testimony.