Mr Ferreiro’s father founded Musealia, an exhibition producer, in 2000. He was a radio journalist, used to working with a microphone, and Ferreiro says he also sees exhibitions like a big microphone; objects can be shown and stories can be told to many people. After reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning in 2009, Ferreiro began working on a travelling exhibition about Auschwitz, the very first of its kind. Because of its mobile nature, the exhibition can be taken to people that may never visit Auschwitz, and elements such as pre-war Oświęcim are touched upon in the exhibition. The exhibition is in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and 20 other museums and organisations have loaned items for the exhibition. Ferreiro does not want visitors to become “experts on Auschwitz,” but rather to reflect and be moved.
Ms Zhemkova works for Memorial, a Russian organisation that is over 30 years old. The society is part of a network of NGOS that confront difficult Soviet and/or Russian history in order to prevent its repetition. Their work involves the collection of facts and testimonies, but also hosting exhibitions, documentaries, competitions and so on. Over the last 20 years, over 50,000 students have entered their competitions; Zhemkova played an example of an animation created by students based on archival testimonies. She stressed the importance of finding a way “to people’s hearts” that will sustain their interest in this history.
Cecile talked about unwillingness from officials to help the people who went through the Sinai camps. In Under the Skin one of the boys said, “No one will believe us anyway.” That is key to understanding this. They are so broken, and they think if they tell our stories, no one will want to listen.
Ms Allegra admitted that “when you come across this kind of thing, you doubt it,” because the reality and scale is so unbelievable. Her last documentary, addressing male rape used as a war weapon in Libya, received hardly any attention for at least six months, because no one wanted to hear about it. In contrast to Ms Zhemkova, Allegra stated that she has to collect information as quickly as possible, as the camps are often dismantled and the only evidence left is survivor testimony. She also advocated that ‘survivor’ should be a legal term alongside ‘refugee’ or ‘migrant’, as the people her NGO helps are survivors yet are not seen as or treated as such.
Mr Bernstein added that America also has a problem in dealing with the aftermath of horrific events. He gave the examples of mass shootings, the grassroots appeals to change gun laws and the influence of businesses and corporations in leaving them unchanged. He talked about four “branches” of American government: judicial, executive, congressional and, now, the media. This fourth pillar is now being undermined by President Donald Trump and his use of the phrase ‘fake news’. Ultimately, Bernstein said, formal education in terms of being a citizen and celebrating differences between people needs to be taught to children as early as possible.