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Survivor testimony plays a central and valuable role in conveying the history of the Holocaust and preserving its memory. Face-to-face meetings with survivors have an immense impact on their participants. As long as such first-hand testimonies are feasible, they should be prioritized.
In recent years we are witnesses to an increasingly widespread phenomenon: members of the second generation recounting survivors' stories. These include children telling their parents' stories, or presentations by individuals with a deep personal connection to the survivor whose story is being told.
These narrators are motivated by a profound sense of personal commitment to Holocaust survivors and to Holocaust remembrance.
Such meetings take place within the education system and in the public arena, as part of independent initiatives or through organizations both in Israel and around the world.
As the survivor generation dwindles, this channel of communication might well bridge between the public and the survivors. It has the power to enhance and vary the experience of studying the Holocaust, infusing it with added depth and meaning.
In order to promote such a meaningful dialogue, the following principles and recommendations have been formulated:
- Purpose – A forum in which members of the second and third generation tell survivors' stories helps to make these experiences more accessible and creates a bridge to Holocaust memory.
- Personal relationship – The narrative should be based on personal acquaintance between the narrator and the survivor whose story is being told. We recommend sharing the nature of this acquaintance with the audience.
- Third person narration – We recommend that the narrative be delivered in the third person, with clarification that this is not direct testimony, but rather that of the narrator's parents or the survivor with whom the narrator is or was acquainted. The use of the first person in such meetings is liable to be confusing and misleading for the listeners, by creating the false impression of actual survivor testimony.
- Hearing and seeing the survivor – We recommend opening each such gathering with an excerpt of the survivor's testimony, in either audio or video format or at least by displaying a photograph of the survivor. This helps to clarify whose story is being told, and identifies the survivor by face and name.
- Context reminders – We recommend that during the course of such meetings, the narrators reiterate that they are telling the story of the survivors, and not their own.
- Stick to the story - We recommend adhering strictly to the survivor's story and refraining from emotional manipulation ("close your eyes, imagine, try and feel….").
- Share the narrator’s lessons from the survivor – It is appropriate to share, in a non-manipulative mode:
- Lessons learned by the narrator from the survivor whose story is being recounted, or how the survivor's experiences influenced his/her life and worldview after the Holocaust.
- Messages that the survivor has asked to be conveyed to future generations.
- What to avoid – We recommend avoiding:
- Comparisons between the Holocaust and contemporary situations or other events.
- Indicating political positions.
- Expressing a judgmental stance.
- Commemorate the victims – When survivors offer their own testimony, they in many ways represent the victims of the Holocaust. Many survivor testimonies relate to murdered family members, to parting from a beloved parent, to the loss of their friends, etc. Thus, we recommend that non-survivor narrators also commemorate the survivor's family members.
Context – We recommend opening the survivor's story with an account of his/her prewar life, and concluding with his/her post-Shoah recovery, including the choices made regarding home, family, profession, etc., thus presenting the survivor's story comprehensively.