Rimparare a vedere, imparare a comprendere la storia attraverso l'esperienza. Antonio Rinaldis, Il Treno della memoria: Viaggio nel presente di Auschwitz (2015)
Learn to see, learn to understand history through experience. Antonio Rinaldis, Il Treno della memoria: Viaggio nel presente di Auschwitz (2015)

Summary/Abstract: In this article, we aim to follow the narrative and metanarrative tracks that Antonio Rinaldis combines in Il Treno della memoria: Viaggio nel presente di Auschwitz (Imprimatur, 2015, translation into Romanian in 2020) and to highlight the role that a journey into the present of the past can have in shaping the behavior and the mentality of young generations. Not so much a lesson to protect (us) once and for all from the World War II atrocities of horrific memory, the experimental immersion into the past has a violent impact upon the youths and all those accompanying them on this journey. Since time travel, either to a past or future physical reality, is not yet available, visiting history – a cycle of immersive-tours to Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz – makes possible the acquisition and cultivation of authentic empathy, with an undeniable role in the development of a dynamic memory. We therefore examine the ways of awakening conscience and of preserving awareness, as well as the human inclination to learn too little from one’s own experiences and even less from the experiences of the past.

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