Personal Narrative: Life After The Holocaust

“For nearly 50 years I don’t and can’t speak about what has happened to me… I was silent when I was hidden and I stay silent even when I am not” (Rein Kaufman). Because the memories of her childhood were so painful, Lola did not tell anyone what had happened; not her uncle, who raised her after the holocaust, not her husband, and not her children. Lola decided to share her story in May of 1991 when she met Jane Marks, a reporter who was writing a book on hidden children. After Lola is handed the microphone at a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reception and told, “Go ahead and talk”, she tells her story once again - but this time in public. “My silence, it seems, has been fully broken” (Rein Kaufman). Since that moment, Lola has spoken many times at synagogues and schools. Lola has shown courage and trust by sharing her story, but that wasn’t all she

A central role in this judicial proceeding was played by eyewitnesses, who during their testimonies created a very intense and emotional atmosphere in the courtroom. In this trial testified 44 male and 25 female eyewitnesses, among them also Lithuanian Jews, who survived the mass atrocities during the Holocaust. Historian Faraldo claimed that the antifascist memorial policy allowed “different feelings and narratives to be expressed.” Similarly, historian Lisa Kirschenbaum noticed that these war narratives “drew on experiences remembered by individuals while providing those who lived through the war with compelling and uplifting frameworks for narrating – and therefore remembering – their own experiences.” Many eyewitnesses, who saw the scene of a crime, and survivors, including those who crawled out from the death pits, could remember in the courtroom very exactly the names,

Seventh grade, bowl cut fresh, skinny jeans tight with poppy orange Asics to complete the look. It was the day I had been dreading. Today was the day that a group of thirty-two thirteen-year-olds was to travel to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. I remember feeling nervous, my stomach sinking, shaking on the bus while my friends giggle and talk. I understood how incredibly horrific the Holocaust was and knew that once I stepped into those exhibits I may, at any time, lose it. As we pulled up everyone got off the bus, we all proceeded to the entrance of I didn't. I was able to stay composed the entire time which was fairly surprising. I broke that night outside of a Subway near Port Hueneme. I remember slamming my fist into a concrete

Budapest in January of 1945. Lantos went around trying to locate his family that he had

What would your account of the Holocaust be? The Holocaust was a unique event in twentieth century history which, evolved between 1933 and 1945. Beginning with discrimination; then the Jews were separated from their communities and persecuted; they were treated as less than human beings and murdered. While the Jews of Europe were the Nazis’ primary target, many millions of other people were also imprisoned, enslaved and murdered. These people included Roma, those with mental or physical disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, trade unionists, political opponents, Poles and Soviet prisoners of war. The Nazis did not act alone. They were supported and assisted by people from within the countries they occupied across Europe. Most countries stood by while the Nazis and their accomplices carried out the mass murder of the Jewish people. Thus, in 1941 there were about 11 million Jews living in Europe; by May 1945 the Nazis had murdered six million of them. One-and-a-half million of these were children.

I will pick survivors from different camps so that we have a feel of everything that happened during that time. While reading or watching about the different stories I am going to see the different ways they tell the stories. Whether it is in a joking manner or really sad. I want to see if this event or anything that has happened in the camps still traumatize the survivors or have they embraced what happened and make it apart of them. After telling the different stories whether is is from the survivors themselves or from their kids or family member I am going to tell the different ways that the Holocaust is represented today.

It was the beginning of March in 1933 when the mass murders had started in Germany. According to the site Survivor Stories, for the next eleven months, about five million people had died. By the end of World War II, the death toll had risen to six million Jewish people. The Holocaust shows how cruel people have been to others based on their religion and have been put to work, tortured, and killed. The way these people were treated made me start thinking that I shouldn’t be taking my life for granted.

Over six million people died in the Holocaust. Family, friends, and other people with the same ethnicity that they didn't even know were killed left and right. From the crematory to getting hung. Was it best for them to help each other or was it to protect themselves and not care about anyone else? (Prompt 5)

The holocaust is regarded as one of the most horrific genocides in recent history. It is not only terrifying because of the sheer number of deaths, but also because of the logistical and efficient manner they used. The systematic process they used defied a person’s ability to live a dignified life. A dignified life is the ability to live your life with the opportunity to become the person that you want to be. My perception of a dignified life was only strengthened by witnessing the Germans systematic process for dehumanizing women. They did this by completely disregarding their opportunity to be their own person which was evident by the removal of hair, being treated like a slave, and being tested on by scientists.

From 1933 to 1945, millions of lives were thrown into chaos because of the Holocaust. Families were ripped apart and values were washed away as citizens were forcefully placed in concentration camps to either be immediately killed or to work until they died. Every person within the camps faced unthinkable trauma. Once everyone was released, the prisoners began to search for lost loved ones and a sense of normality. However, the anguish did not end with the end of the Holocaust. Following the Holocaust, first generation survivors developed abnormal values, societal dependence, and a need to avoid the topic of the Holocaust as an effect of their trauma; these side effects were then passed down to future generations

The next photo is very underexposed. It shows Father’s store, but this time the windows have been smashed, and it shows people leaving the store, arms filled with merchandise. These people were looting his store, carrying away whatever they could. They were Father’s customers. People he trusted. It is the day after Kristallnacht, “the night of broken glass,” called that because all night you could hear the sound of glass breaking, the glass of synagogues and Jewish stores and homes and prayer halls. Under the picture is the date November 10, 1938.

“I pray you never stand at any crossroads in your own lives, but if you do, if the darkness seems so total, if you think there is no way out, remember, never ever give up. The darker the night, the brighter the dawn, and when it gets really, really dark, this is when one sees the true brilliance of the stars.” These words were spoken by Gerda Klein, a Holocaust survivor. Her story is filled with desperation and an overwhelming sense of hope. Gerda Weissmann was born in Bielsko, Poland. Both of her parents and her older brother died during the Holocaust. She was somehow able to survive “the ghetto, deportation, slave labor camps and a three month death march. She was rescued by an American soldier named Kurt Klein. She ended up marrying him and moving to the United States.

It am in a world where war and fighting is what I live around. But all the bombs were going and shaking the building. But I don’t know how much longer I can stay away from the Nazis. But I am the only survivor and I look around the village to see if their was another survivor but I never found no one. But I keep moving so the Nazis will never find me and take me to the ghettos and the death camps. Even though, I am frightened. Today was the day that Nazis took over Warsaw. While I was walking down the street I felt drums at the bottom of my feet but I knew it wasn't drums it was tanks. After, some soldiers gave bread but some soldiers got Jews and made them clean the sidewalk with their beards. But other soldiers cut off all their hair on

“NO!” Those were the words I uttered when I learned that we were moving from Seattle, Washington to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. These two cities seemed worlds apart, in my mind at age thirteen. I wanted nothing more than to remain at home, but I was taken from one world to another. In retrospect, I feel that I benefited greatly from the move.

In a story written by a 16-year-old girl,” I’ll Go Fetch Her Tomorrow,” the narrator shares her personal experience as a survivor of the Holocaust. She describes her life experience and explains what was going on around her from her point of view. Since she was Jewish she, along with many other children, did not have much say in whether they were going in hiding or not. She was only 16 and was deported alone. She managed to escape and had to go from hiding place to hiding place to keep out of the Nazi’s harsh deportation or even worst avoid being sent to a concentration camp.