"And You Shall Tell Your Children"

Marking the Holiday of Passover Before, During and After the Holocaust

The imperative to remember is a significant element of the Passover holiday, and part of its tradition and rituals. In “And You Shall Tell Your Children,” through the photos, the artifacts and the personal testimonies, we explore and remember some of the ways Passover was observed throughout Europe prior to the Holocaust, during the Holocaust years, and in the displaced persons camps and children’s homes following the war.

Matzo cover dating back to 1906, found in the Uryn home in Paris and preserved
Jewish soldiers in the French Foreign Legion with members of the Jewish community in Sousse, Tunisia, Passover 1940
Passover Haggadah that Ephraim-Ze'ev Yacqont copied and illustrated while in hiding in Belgium, March 1944
Greeting card sent to mark the Passover holiday, Luboml, Poland 1919
Jews who escaped from Poland to Russia, baking matzah for Passover, USSR, 1943
Jewish soldiers in the Polish Army on Passover. Miechów, Poland, 1920
The Weinreb family, Seder night, Deggendorf DP camp, Germany, 1946
Postwar, Feldafing, Germany, Passover eve in the Displaced Persons camp, 1947
Baking Matzot in the Igel family home in Solotvyn, Poland (today Ukraine), 1935
Embroidered cloth matzah dish that Albert Baer received from his family before leaving Germany in 1939
Rachel and Yitzhak Gachtmann's family on Passover, Janov, Poland, Prewar
Matzah baking at the New Palestine DP camp, Parsch, Austria, postwar
Kostopol, Poland, a group photograph of members of a Hachshara (agricultural training program) during Passover
Passover Haggadah that Yehezkel Gewirtz sent his six-year-old nephew, Getzel Landau in 1934 from Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine)
A group photo of Jewish soldiers and community members at a Passover Seder arranged by the community, Staszow, Poland, prewar
The Both family's matzah cover
Workers with a matzah machine, Dzisna, Vilna, Poland, prewar
Baking matzah in the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland
Passover Seder at the Mittenwald DP camp, Germany, postwar
Dough being carried to the oven by conveyor belt at the Herzog matzah factory, Berlin, Germany, 1936
Rabbi Spiegel found this Haggadah at the edge of a smouldering pile of books in Berlin in 1934.
Jews at a Passover Seder at Dzielna 7 in the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland
A man taking boxes of matzah for Passover at the Eggenfelden DP camp, Germany, postwar
Jewish soldiers at a Passover Seder, Utena, Lithuania, prewar
Passover Haggadah used at the Passover seder in 1941 by inmates at the Gurs camp
Holocaust survivors recall Passover traditions and customs
A man reciting a blessing over a cup of wine at a Passover Seder in the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland
Rabbi Dalin reading from the Haggada at a Passover Seder at the American Airforce base, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, postwar
Matzah baking, prewar
Girls eating matzah on Passover at the Rothschild Center, Vienna, Austria, postwar
A Passover Seder for Jewish Allied soldiers
The Passover Haggadah that 17 year old Elimelekh Landau prepared as his father quoted from memory when the family of five were in hiding in Boryslav
The Ziegel family with other workers in a matzah factory, Zamosc, Poland, 1939
A Passover Seder in the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland
Preparation of matzah for distribution to the needy, Vienna, Austria, 1921
Tiered matzah and Seder plate stand for the Passover holiday made in a home in Switzerland for Jewish children who had been smuggled out of areas occupied by the Nazis
A Passover Seder at the Selb DP camp, Germany, 09/04/1946
Herzog matzah factory, Berlin, Germany, 1936
When she returned home after the war Lea Holczer found this matzah cover that her grandmother, Chana Reasz, had made in 1905.
Passover Seder at Beaune la Rolande detention camp in France, April 1942.
David Pastel, who was deported to Auschwitz on 28 June 1942 appears in this photograph. He was murdered on 22 January 1945 during a death march from Auschwitz.
The Slep family preparing for the Passover Seder, Dusetos, Lithuania, 1931
The Last Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto
Matzah baking, prewar
Baking matzah in hiding, Lodz, Poland, 1943
The matzah cover that Berta Weinschenk had in Theresienstadt
Passover Seder in the sanatorium, Gauting, Germany, 15/04/1947
Helpert family members and neighbors baking matzah, Makó, Hungary, Passover eve 1944
A Passover Seder at the Mittenwald DP camp, Germany, postwar
Passover Seder 1942 at Pithiviers detention camp in France. The photo was submitted by the son of Wolf Slucki who was deported from Pithiviers to Auschwitz on 25 June 1942
Passover at Kibbutz Chaim, an urban kibbutz, Panevezys, Lithuania, 1934
Jews around a Seder table reading from the Passover Haggada, Warsaw, Poland
Passover Seder in the DP camp, Stuttgart, Germany, 1947
Kibbutz HaKovesh celebrating the Passover Seder, Seduva, Lithuania, 18/04/1935
A Passover machzor (festival prayerbook) that the Gergas family took with them when they were expelled from Alexandria, Poland and sent to Siberia
Herzog matzah factory, Berlin, Germany, 1936
A group photo of Jewish soldiers and community members at a Passover Seder arranged by the community, Staszow, Poland, prewar
Passover Haggadah that was used by Jewish soldiers on 8 April 1944, at a Seder on a British base for soldiers from Eretz Israel in Bari, Italy
Matzah baking in the Parsch DP Camp, near Salzburg, Austria, postwar
A communal Passover Seder, Stuttgart, Germany, 1947
Warsaw, Poland, Jews sitting around the Seder table on 7 Dzielna St. in the ghetto
Warsaw, Poland, Buchalter family (family of the submitter), during the Passover Seder, 1933
Lodz, Poland, Matzah distribution in the ghetto, 1941
Righteous Among the Nations Don Tantalo's calculations to determine the date of Passover
The Rudel family in the midst of baking matzah, Pujaudran, France, 1943
Grzegorz Lampert (at the back - 3rd from left) during a Passover Seder, Vilna, Poland, April 1940
A Passover Seder at the Selb DP camp, Germany, 09/04/1946
A Passover Seder, Klykuoliai, Lithuania, 1930
A communal Passover Seder, Stuttgart, Germany, 1947
Jacob Kazhpicki at a Passover Seder for Jewish soldiers serving in the Polish army, Chojnice, Poland, 1939
Preparing a shipment of matzah for the Berlin Jewish community, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1949
A communal Passover Seder, Stuttgart, Germany, 1947
A family seated around the Passover Seder table, Riga, Latvia, prewar
Jewish American soldiers at the first Passover Seder after liberation, Fuerstenfeldbruck DP camp, Germany, 1946
A Gotstein and Fliescher family Passover Seder, Kursenai, Lithuania, prewar
After the war, Zehava Pleischer found her father's Passover Haggadah along with other items that had been hidden in a suitcase.
Baking matzah in a DP camp, Zeilsheim, Germany, postwar
Children of the Helpert family and neighbors baking matzah, Makó, Hungary, Passover eve 1944
A communal Passover Seder, Stuttgart, Germany, 1947
A Passover Seder for Jewish Allied soldiers
Distribution of boxes of matzah by the Joint Distribution Committee, Bad Toelz, Germany, postwar
A Passover Seder in a DP camp, Munich, Germany, April 1949
Herzog matzah factory, Berlin, Germany, 1936
A Passover Seder in a hospital, Sosnowiec, Poland, 1941
A Passover Seder at the Rosenheim Children's Center, Rosenheim, Germany, postwar
A Passover Seder for Allied soldiers, Berlin, Germany, postwar
A Passover Seder held for Allied soldiers at the Bon Marche store, Belgium, 25/3/1945
Distribution of matzah by the ZSS in Warsaw during Passover, Poland, 1940