“Today’s been a lot about death”, observed Jemima, as we walked back to our hotel from the Recoleta Cemetary. And, unintentionally, it was…
As it was raining (actually a welcome relief after our 37 degree walking-into-a-hairdryer arrival), we decided to do museums. Looking at options, we discovered a Holocaust museum, which Jemima is studying at the moment, so decided on that (this trip is not a holiday, it’s a learning experience!).
After the all-important laundry drop-off (the only way we can have small bags is to do weekly washing), the museum was a short walk through the streets of Recoleta, our district of Buenos Aires, trying to avoid Jemima taking someone’s eye out with our hotel umbrella. We were a bit early so had a coffee (non-decaf for me, dangerous!), then queued to get in.
This took a while - bag searches and passport checks at the door, then a detailed registration process where our passport details were recorded again - and then finally we could get started.
It was very well done - it brought to life the experiences of Jewish families across Europe, from normal life; to the start of prohibitions (a great touchscreen where you could see all the limits that were gradually brought in, from owning property, to leaving the country, to being a nurse…); to the ghettos and concentration camps; and finally the prosecution of key Nazis (including Eichmann, a key organiser of the Holocaust, who was captured in 1960 in Argentina, living under a false name).
The most impactful bits were a powerful video of the Warsaw ghetto, filmed by the Nazis, which showed thin children in rags scavenging for food; and an area made to feel like one of the cattle trucks taking prisoners to the concentration camps. Plus the names of the 6 million victims were projected on the wall, then disappearing into fragments - the explanations were all in Spanish so we used a lot of Google Translate Camera, but it seemed to state it would take 720 days to say all the names. At one point Jemima said, “it’s too sad” - but that’s the point.
Interestingly on the top floor the had a special exhibition about the “purple triangles”, another group persecuted by the Nazis: Jehovah’s Witnesses (a form of Christianity).
Their doctrine is strongly about not doing harm so they refused to obey the Nazi rules about, for example, not selling bread to Jews. So they suffered too - children were taken away from their parents, and many adults were sent to concentration camps. The numbers are small in comparison - c1500-200 total - but in some countries they were totally wiped out. This was all new to us, and was a fascinating accompaniment to the main museum.
After a little break in the hotel, it was lunch at Horno Argentino (“Argentinian oven”)- notable for our first experience of empanadas! These are basically an Argentinian Cornish pasty, filled with anything from mince to chicken to tuna to cheese and onion. And they are very tasty. Also rather fun: my copa de vino came in a bizarre penguin-shaped jug, which it turns out are all the rage in Buenos Aires. I’ve yet to work out why wine in Argentina = penguins…? But we’re fans! No room to take one home, to Jemima’s disappointment.
Then the main event: Recoleta Cemetery. Kevin and Jemima were a bit bemused as to why we were visiting a Cemetery, but it’s the main tourist attraction in Buenos Aires, so I signed us up for a walking tour (in the drizzle). Impressive mausoleums of all different styles - gothic, Victorian, art nouveau, 70s brutalist - crowded in blocks with pathways between them, mostly one per family with (apparently) up to 90 coffins in each one, as they each extend two floors below ground. (You could see down in some of them - including coffins on shelves.)
The guide did a great job of bringing it to life, mixing what he called “creepy stories” (like the young woman who was buried alive, because she was actually suffering with narcolepsy), with history (the terrible War of the Triple Alliance, where Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay took on Paraguay from 1864-70, because Paraguay tried to get a port - 50% of all Paraguayans were dead by the end, and 90% of all men). And some of them were really beautiful, with marble statues, or stained glass.
But at the end, the main event: Evita’s mausoleum. Standing in the shelter of some tall pine trees, he told us the short story of her life, and the very long and complicated story of what happened to her body after death: it had been embalmed for her two week funeral (which 3 million Argentinians attended), and ended up being hidden from political opponents in car boots, or attics, or taken to Madrid - until she was finally returned to her sister to be interred in her family vault. (This is the short version - there were a lot of military coups and dictatorships included.) A few small plaques outside one of the smaller mausoleums, but what an outsize legacy - and she was only 33 when she died.
Singing “Don’t cry for me Argentina”, we collected the washing, and went out for dinner to a local Parilla, or barbecue place. The intention was not to eat much as we weren’t that hungry, so we ordered half a chicken and veal Milanese to share (another local speciality - apparently in the 19th century half of all the inhabitants of BA were immigrants, and half of all those were Italian - there were lots of Italian names in the cemetery).
Before it came, three empanadas showed up with the bread - again, delicious; followed by enormous portions of food, with an incredibly tasty trio of dips: fresh chillis in vinegar; a sort of chilli flake paste (my favourite); and an onion and pepper thing (Kevin’s). So tasty (and not helpful for our intentions to have a small dinner). Then after a few games of UNO in the hotel lobby, that was it. More BA fun tomorrow!
Rainy view from our hotel room:
European-style streets:
The Holocaust Museum (Jemima listening to the audio guide):
El pingüino!:
Recoleta Cemetery:
The girl who was buried alive:
Photo credit - Jemima:
Feeling VERY smug about the packable rain jackets I bought us all for Christmas:
The Duarte family mausoleum, including Maria Eva Duarte de Peron:
Health and safety:
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