The Evidence Room

by Anne Bordeleau, Sascha Hastings, Robert Jan Van Pelt

Internationally renowned and award-winning historian Dr. Robert Jan van Pelt's The Evidence Room is a chilling exploration of the role architecture played in constructing Auschwitz - arguably the Nazis' most horrifying facility. The Evidence Room is both a companion piece to, and an elaboration of, an exhibit at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, based on van Pelt's authoritative testimony against Holocaust denial in a 2000 libel suit argued before the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Genres: Holocaust, Architecture, Politics, History

176 pages, Hardcover

Published May 25, 2016

Reviews

[char · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating reflection from a variety of contributors on the exhibition of the same name. As an anthology, some entries were more useful or profound than others, but illuminating nonetheless, especially regarding what it meant to participate in an exhibition that required fabricating architectural elements of Auschwitz.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unsure what the point of this book was. The best I can describe it is that its more than likely a companion piece to the Evidence Room exhibit itself.
Did you come here trying to find stories on the trail?
How the plans were recovered?
Who investigated what components of it? And tried to piece it all together?
Me too!
It's not in this book.
The layout is confusing, I cannot understand why this book puts tiny thumbnail size images in the middle of a page by itself with nothing more. For the price I was expecting a large glossy page photo filled index of materials, to my surprise most of the pages in this book are blank.
Take whatever pages are not blank and most of those are glossary pages, source pages etc.
So what is it? Well, it's not much, details of how the exhibit itself came to be, how the people responsible felt about it (I care about that, why?), annnnnd yeah that's pretty much it.
Avoid. Read "The case for Auschwitz" by Robert Jan instead.

[Joe Sacksteder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book after the privilege of seeing this installation at the Hirshhorn in 2019. Stunning and chilling. The book is not just an apt supplement but a compelling text in its own regard. This short review does not come close to doing anything justice.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A difficult, emotional read about a horrific piece of history.