Stories of the Holocaust: Local Memory and Transmission

Welcome to the Stories of the Holocaust: Local Memory and Transmission exhibit. This exhibit is the result  of a community collaboration between students in a combined undergraduate and graduate seminar on Holocaust and Memory Studies at UVic; members of the local community in Victoria, Vancouver, and Saltspring Island in Western British Columbia; and the University of Victoria Libraries. Working together, these community members and student scholars engaged in a process of storytelling, active listening, and dynamic memory work to present unique and diverse stories of the Holocaust. Please click on the images below to enter the different sections of the exhibit. To learn more about  this project, go to the "about the exhibit" tab above. 

Hinda Avery

This exhibit weaves together the story of Dr. Hinda Avery, a former professor, feminist, and an artist, with an exploration of my grandfather’s experience in Holland during the war to tell two stories of resistance.

Lillian Boraks-Nemetz

Lillian is a poet, novelist, and child survivor of the Holocaust who escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto, lived in hiding in a Polish village, and emigrated to Canada with her family after the war.

Rudolf Deman

Through music, this exhibit explores the story of Rudolf Deman, an Austrian Violinist who was forced to emigrate to Switzerland after the Nazi annexed Austria in 1938. 

Ilserl Fränkel

Ilserl’s Prague explores, through the eyes of a young child, the steadily tightening effects of the antisemitic decrees passed by Nazi forces following the occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Julius Maslovat

Putting the Puzzle Together: Through audio, primary documents, and a one-on-one interview, this exhibit explores the research of one's own story during the Holocaust.
 

Micha Menczer

Micha Menczer is the son of Mottel Menczer. In this exhibit, "My Father's Stories" he explores a collection of short stories by his father, detailing his experiences from before, during, and after the Shoah 

Isa Milman

Isa Milman is an award winning writer, artist and poet based in Victoria, BC. This exchibit will focus on the story of her parents, Olek & Sabina Milman, and their 1940 deportation to a Siberian Gulag.

Fred Preuss

These pages explore citizenship in relation to the experiences of German Jewish immigrant Dr. Fred Preuss during the 1930s and ‘40s.

Claire Sicherman

As a member of the third generation, Claire speaks and writes about the Holocaust and how trauma transmits across generations. Much of her work focuses on honouring and remembering her family through story and ritual.

Hester Waas

Hester was just a teenager when she joined the Van Westering family in their home in the Netherlands. This exhibit details her time with the family as well as what happened after the war when she left to rejoin her own surviving family members.