10 Expert Tips for Visiting Global Sites of Remembrance

Every year, Remembrance Days mark some of the more difficult moments in history, and every year, there are reports of visitors behaving badly.

Guidelines are in effect to provide a meaningful experience for visitors in a venue where a profound moment of significant impact occurred, often as basic as following guided trails to preserve historic venues or treating staff respectfully and following instructions.

But there are other ways travelers can be respectful when visiting memorials or other commemorative sites. Simple preparation can guide how to fully participate and allow others the opportunity as well.

Before the Visit

Before you decide to visit, read information about the historical event that occurred at the site and gain some fundamental understanding of the significance it has for its community–the area where it is located as well as the people it represents—as well as the world.

“People must understand reverence of sites, of history,” says the Muscogee Nation’s Tracie Revis, Director of Advocacy with The Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, which advocates for the creation of Georgia’s first national park. The park is a prehistoric American Indigenous site and the largest archaeology dig in American history. For many Americans who have been steeped in Western history, there must be recognition that Indigenous cultures prevailed long before colonialism—and still exist.

“We have proven consistent human habitation on this land for 17,000 years,” says Revis. “And while my tribe was removed, we still have a cultural connection to the land, the water, and all the structures we built, including burial sites, so it has sacred meaning for us.”

Get Emotionally Tuned

Many sites of remembrance display content that can be emotionally or traumatically triggering, so learning what to expect from the venue or exhibits helps prepare for the mental space a visitor will need to be in.

“Be informed about yourself and what your own processes of reaction and response are to an emotionally intense place,” says Braden Paynter, Director of Methodology and Practice at the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, the only global network of historic sites, museums, and memory initiatives that connects past conflict with modern day movements for human rights.

“It’s going to change the way you experience the site, how you’re going to impact others, your own ability to engage,” says Paynter about emotionally preparing. “People mean well, but it’s the other pieces in their life that are barriers to them being here as visitors.”

Be Respectful of Clothing Requirements and Personal Belongings

If in a religious space, cover parts of the body that the venue recommends. Sometimes hats and caps must be removed when visiting a memorial site. Also, ensure your personal belongings don’t display messages triggering to staff or other visitors.

“We once had a whole family, including the kids, come in with open-carry guns on their hips,” shares Aura Sunada Newlin, Executive Director for the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, a world-class museum and institute preserving what remains of the World War II Japanese American confinement site in Park County. It serves to tell the stories of the more than 14,000 people unjustly incarcerated there.

“In Wyoming, open carry is legal, but it made our staff and other visitors uncomfortable. Since then, we placed a sign on our door stating, ‘The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center and historic site are gun-free spaces. Please leave your firearms in your vehicle.’”

Maintain Decorum

Giving people space to process emotions different from what you are experiencing is also important. Where one might be processing information intellectually, another might be experiencing a viscerally life-changing moment. Distracting visitor behavior that affects the experience for others can lead to intervention by security or staff.

“If people visiting the Auschwitz Memorial behave in a way that disrupts the visit, disturbs other visitors, contradicts the rules of the museum, is offensive to the victims of Auschwitz, or the memorial itself, such people may be removed from the museum grounds by security,” shares Łukasz Lipiński from the Press Office at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and Memorial. “If visitors try to take any historical element from the site, such as a piece of brick or wire, then the police must be called because it is a crime.”

Respect Personal Privacy

A historical visit for you could be a deeply personal experience for another. Respect others’ privacy and keep your distance so they might have a moment of reflection. If you feel overwhelmed or see someone who might need assistance, inform a staff member—they are professionally trained to address visitor needs in such situations.

Paynter reminds us that many of these sites are locations where humans have hurt each other and caused legacies of that harm–so being kind, respectful, and deferential to one another in our interactions and curiosity is important. Many sites now offer reflection rooms for those who want to spend a few minutes alone or away from the exhibits.

Observe Photography Rules

When taking photos, respect that others might not wish to be photographed. Be mindful of your gestures and expressions, too.

Newlin also recommends staying away from sensationalism. “We are often approached by ghost hunting shows to come use their ghost sensors to pick up any paranormal activity. We decline because using [the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation] for entertainment doesn’t properly respect the memories of the people who lived and suffered here.”

And while it might be tempting to take selfies, respect the surroundings.

“We ask that people do not take pictures of the burial mound [at The Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative],” says Revis. “It is fenced so you can see it and pay respect but that is not an official rule–it’s a cultural respect that we ask.”

Curiosity Is Welcome, Challenges Are Not

Questions and curiosity are encouraged, but challenging the facts the venue presents or the credibility of content isn’t welcome behavior. Come with an open mind to learn and leave more informed than before, but also remember that some questions border on being intrusive or even offensive.

Newlin and her team are developing a list of hostile comments that visitors commonly make, along with effective talking points that staff can use to counter. These are crucial to recognize in a way that keeps everybody safe and calm while correcting the record without causing a scene.

“It’s personal because my great-grandfather was a camp prisoner,” Lipiński says. “I try to answer questions but when it comes to people who are trying to deny [the authenticity], I don’t even try to start a conversation with them, as a rule. We try to focus on facts in our work … something that can be proved by documents, by witnesses, by survivors.”

Respect Staff

All the staff at the venue are trained in their positions, well-versed in the subject matter, and many have personal connections to the history. Remember that they are human, too, and working in these spaces every day affects them, too.

“Every single day you have people from different countries with different attitudes and different opinions,” says Lipiński. “The trainings help guides deal with their work, which is not easy because in a place like Auschwitz, the hours you talk and walk, dealing with emotions, can take weeks or even months for a guide to learn how to work with certain groups or people.”

At the Auschwitz Memorial, becoming a guide entails four to six months of training, three types of exams to pass, along with additional annual training to earn a special license to guide tours.

Cultural Nuances Also Count

“Unless this is your own history, unless you are a survivor or descendant of what happened here, your being at this site isn’t about you,” says Newlin. “In U.S. culture, we feel like we need to insert our opinions and advice and tell people what we know because that’s the way we’ve been trained to speak since childhood. At these sites, though, people could benefit from a reminder that this isn’t about you.”

Be sure to manage and put aside personal expectations of how to experience the site.

“People know there’s a spiritual connection to that land and have wanted to do their own interpretation of connectivity to the land, which hasn’t always been allowed,” says Revis. “Be respectful and understand that this is another culture’s [space]. Sometimes, your interpretation may not be culturally appropriate.”

Don’t Compare Historical Events

“People try to disregard what happened, saying that, ‘This wasn’t so bad.’ There are all these ways that, whether intentionally or not, visitors can come across as trying to diminish the harm that occurred,” says Newlin. “When people make inaccurate comparisons or attempt to challenge the facts, it has the effect of minimizing the experience.”

Comparing the harmfulness of atrocities is inappropriate, misguided, and cruel. Remember that while events happen in the context of history, sites of remembrance serve to focus on the specific events of that particular destination and what lessons can be learned from them for the future.

“A lot of times if people are encountering a story for the first time, even with the best of intentions, their understanding and engagement ends at the pain and trauma of a site,” says Paynter. “Many of these sites have stories of humanity at their worst, and it has stories of humanity at their best … the resilience, the love, the connections, the persistence is an important part of this too. Nobody is defined by a single moment or a single story.”