16
Charlotte Schallié: “There is no Wiedergutmachung, there is no Versöhnung, no reconciliation. Even the title But I Live could be misinterpreted to be heroic – it is not. It is actually a matter-of-fact statement: Emmie says “I remember that I was going to die […] But I live”. If there is any message from Emmie in the book, it is to live well, don’t waste your life.
In this project, we stayed away from creating a heroic narrative, although, oftentimes, there is pressure to do that. We tend to use the past to serve the needs of the present. We need the past to tell us a story – we often times instrumentalize it by using it for contemporary issues, we weaponize it. In a project like this we are very mindful of the power and language of visual propaganda. We say: just let the survivors have their say. Just let them speak, without overburdening them with what we need from them.”
But then what do we have left as readers to take from this story?
Barbara Yelin: “I think we get a greater emotional understanding of what listening does, that is the most important thing that I learned. But also learning about the complexity of a life like Emmies, a women’s story with so many aspects that have not been heard. It was very important to us not to make a book only about traumatic memories of suffering, but also how someone like Emmie dealt with it:
how with amazing strength and courage she faced it by starting therapy, speaking with her family, and finding the words. Her strength is part of the story – but it is not a heroic story.”
Charlotte Schallié: “Yes, Emmie has the right to tell her life story. But I also feel that Emmie Arbel. The Color of Memory and other graphic novels that engage with personal stories of survivors allow us to bear witness to atrocities that are unbearable or impossible for the human soul to process.
From a human rights perspective it is important that these stories are not forgotten. I am careful with the term empathy – what does historical empathy mean? –, but, in a way, we would like
to foster empathy in our readership through telling the life stories of Emmie, David, Nico, and Rolf. If, as a result, our readers do not turn away from current human rights abuses, but, instead, become
active citizens, the project is doing its work.”
To conclude, how can a graphic novel help in this?
Charlotte Schallié: “The graphic art form allows us to slow down the process of reading; it compels us to pay attention, to engage with how we feel. Comics elicit active listening skills and invite us to step
out of the role of a passive viewer. Comics, as in Barbara’s story, are selective in what they represent. In order to complete the storyline, we, as readers, therefore need to inject our imagination into it. We
ourselves become an active part of the story and the storytelling process. That is what you want: you want somebody to be engaged.”
This interview was first published in Dutch in WO2 Onderzoek Uitgelicht, a Dutch journal that offers indepth
articles about ongoing and recent research regarding the remembrance and commemoration of World War II and the handling of (un)freedom.
=====
i But I live is part of an earlier research project Narrative Art and Visual Storytelling in Holocaust and Human Rights Education. See also: https://utorontopress.com/9781487526849/but-i-live/.
ii Barbara Yelin, Emmie Arbel. Die Farbe der Erinnerung, Reprodukt 2023, p. 171: ‘Ich wollte eine Möglichkeit finden, dieses Leid zu erzählen, ich wollte Zusammenhänge finden, vielleicht wollte ich, wie vermessen, Trost finden für Emmie, für uns. Und doch ist es nicht geschehen.’
Matthias Lukkes studied History at Leiden University (Cum Laude). Since 2022, he works for the National Comitee for 4 en 5 May as editor for the journal “WO2 Onderzoek uitgelicht”.