I survived Auschwitz
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany has launched “I Survived Auschwitz: Remember This”, a new digital campaign featuring Holocaust survivors.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest and deadliest Nazi concentration and extermination camp where more than 1.1 million people were murdered during its five years of operation.
The survivors participating endured Auschwitz, the extermination camp synonymous with evil.
This two-week social media endeavour features Holocaust survivors answering the question: Given your experience as an Auschwitz survivor, what is one specific thing – a person, a moment or an experience – you want people to remember for generations to come?
Auschwitz survivor Aron Krell talks about his brother, Zvi, who died from starvation after a year in the Lodz ghetto and is worried that the world will not remember Zvi as he did not survive to tell his story. Aron recalled the last words Zvi told him before passing, “Please never forget me.” This campaign is a tribute to Aron, his brother Zvi and all the families lost, murdered and persecuted at the hands of the Nazis.
Judith Hervé-Elkán, 98, who now lives in France, stated that the image of mothers who chose to go with their children to the gas chambers rather than watch their children die alone is one that she will never forget.
Herta Vyšná’s father died in Sachsenhausen; and her mother who was selected by Mengele for unimaginable experiments. She recalled, “that is how I lost my parents and was orphaned at the age of thirteen. I wish for the memory of my family, who was murdered, to be preserved forever and ever.”
Jona Laks, a twin, (one of the only still alive), who survived Mengele’s experiments, stated, “I remember that day, at that same moment when we were left alone on the death march, I vowed that I would dedicate all my energy, all my time, everything, to telling, documenting, conveying…
Ella Blumenthal, 103 years old survivor wants the world to remember she never gave up hope in Auschwitz despite losing 23 members of her immediate family. She and her niece, Roma, survived. “She begged me to end our suffering by throwing ourselves onto the electrified fence because she said the only way out of Auschwitz was through the chimney. I convinced her to wait one more day – and then again another day – because I wasn’t ready to die. I wanted to live.”
The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz comes at a time when the world is experiencing a dramatic rise in antisemitism, divisive global politics and the animosity of racism.
The new campaign also includes a series of videos of notable survivors who have passed, including Roman Kent and Elie Wiesel, and is accompanied by a four-part series of short videos on the history of Auschwitz. The series includes videos about specific Auschwitz facts and historical videos of well-known people associated with Auschwitz, including Anne Frank and Lali Solokov, a tattooist in Auschwitz.
The campaign website houses all the videos from the 80 survivors as well as their biographies.
