Our Holocaust Story features short videos of Holocaust survivors and family members sharing personal testimonies of persecution and survival. In closing, family members make a pledge to remember, ensuring these stories continue. Many survivors do not have children and even for those who do, the awesome weight of carrying this testimony can be and should be shared. This campaign reaches beyond survivors and their families – this serves as a moment in time when each of us can take on the extraordinary responsibility of keeping individual stories alive and guaranteeing future generations learn about and understand the lessons of the Holocaust.
Jehuda, George and Robert Lindenblatt, three Holocaust survivor brothers from Hungary all living in New York, came together with their families to create a video for the campaign. In their video, Jehuda talks of his responsibility to share the story and also the difficulty in telling it, saying, “I survived the Holocaust and I have to tell the story again and again…I was so hungry. If you never experienced hunger, you cannot explain to anyone what it is.”
Each survivor has a poignant and unique story to tell. By passing these stories on within their family, they make certain their testimony continues and the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten. Collectively, these stories tell the history of the Shoah, a history we must preserve and share. Don’t we all have an obligation to adopt these stories, to share the tragedy and pain as well as bravery and heroism?
Shraga Milstein, a Holocaust survivor from Poland living in Israel, shared his story with his son, who promises to “remember and tell future generations of the Holocaust.”
Assia Gorban, a Holocaust survivor in Germany, created a video for the campaign with her granddaughter, Ruth Gorban, who said to her grandmother during the recording, “I promise you that I will tell your story as best I can so that it lives on with us.”
Over 100 Holocaust survivors and their families are participating in the campaign; some videos feature Holocaust survivors with their families, while others highlight the descendants pledge to remember. All participants will be featured in posts across the Claims Conference’s social media platforms every week throughout the year. Survivor stories will be shared on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, using the hashtag #OurHolocaustStory. The Claims Conference will permanently house all videos and additional content on the campaign website, www.PledgetoRemember.org.
Also on the website, you can also find a list of the more than 50 museums and institutions from around the world that are working with us in support of this campaign.
In the coming weeks you will see our videos posted across all of our social media platforms. Please take a moment and help us get these testimonies out to the world by sharing our posts on your favorite social media channel. We hope, as people see and share these testimonies, it moves them to learn about the Shoah.
When we see a Holocaust survivor with their family members, it sends a powerful message – they didn’t just survive the Holocaust, they went on to live, to build a family, a family that would not exist if they had not survived. Each survivor has a profound impact on the world, and it is our responsibility to carry forward their testimony. Please join me in making a pledge to remember.
Greg Schneider – executive vice president.
