Holocaust stories must be told, but their popularity is deeply uncomfortable | Liz Kessler

Remembering atrocious events is vital - but watching the bestsellers accrue and witnessing tourists taking selfies in Auschwitz-Birkenau has left me very uneasy

As trends go, the Holocaust is perhaps not what you might think of as a must-have" subject for books today. But check out the bestseller lists and you'll see plenty of novels and biographies with Auschwitz in the title. It's an inescapable, uncomfortable fact: the Holocaust is currently trendy.

Humans have always been fascinated by the macabre. A couple of hundred years ago, people would flock to watch public hangings. Today, you can go on Jack the Ripper tours. True crime documentaries and blockbuster movies are littered with brutality and violence.