CARRYING HOLOCAUST TESTIMONY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
Survivor testimony has played an integral role in Holocaust education for the past several decades. Recognized worldwide by leading organizations as a best practice, survivor testimony has personalized the history of the Holocaust, allowing us to understand the human cost of antisemitism, hatred and intolerance.
In order to preserve survivor testimony for future generations, Michelle Glied-Goldstein has been working with survivors in Toronto, Canada, along with their children and grandchildren to create a program, Carrying Holocaust Testimony, that will ensure survivor voices remain at the forefront of Holocaust education as we face a world without in-person survivor testimony.
Melissa Mikel (MM): What is the Carrying Holocaust Testimony program?
Michelle Glied Goldstein (MGG): In this program, descendants of Survivors share their families’ personal histories with students and other audiences using their own voices, first-hand video testimony from a filmed personal interview with their parent or grandparent who survived the Holocaust, artifacts, photos and their own personal history of growing up in the shadows of the Holocaust.
MM: Where did the idea of Carrying Holocaust Testimony come from?
MGG: My late father, Bill Glied z”l, was a Holocaust Survivor who shared his history and experiences with students across the country and around the world. He was part of a group of about 80 survivors in Toronto who were affiliated with various Holocaust education centres in the city. He was very aware that when coupled with core Holocaust education, hearing a survivor’s testimony significantly improved students’ understanding of this genocide and their willingness to think about the significance, the impact, and the lessons of the Holocaust. In 2015, he realized that the survivors were aging and fewer and fewer were able to speak to students. He was very concerned about what would happen to this history once they were all gone. At that time, I was a docent at the Neuberger Holocaust Centre and a volunteer with the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, so I was already very committed to Holocaust education. He talked to me about his concerns and we started brainstorming ideas. We finally settled on the Carrying Holocaust Testimony concept. We felt it allowed the survivors to continue to tell the critical parts of their histories through film, but coupled their voices with the personal oral testimony of their descendants. We did our first pilot presentation at a high school in late 2017.
MM: What are the goals of Carrying Holocaust Testimony?
MGG: As an organization, our primary goal is to become a resource for other Holocaust education centres, just as our parents were. We envision having a list of descendants who would each be available to share their parent’s history with students. Ideally, Holocaust centres or schools will simply call on people from that list when they want to include “Survivor Testimony” as part of an educational program.
From an educational perspective, our goal is to help our learners understand what actually happened to individual people, how it was able to happen, and what they can do to help ensure it never happens again. Our presentations include life before the war, during the Holocaust, and after liberation – and help students understand the long-term repercussions of crimes against humanity. We include artifacts and photos that correlate directly to the individual histories and help provide support in the defence against Holocaust deniers.
MM: What did this project mean to your dad?
MGG: My father believed that the only way to prevent history from repeating was for each of us to stand up when we see wrong in the world. One of the reasons he shared his history with students, despite how difficult it was each and every time, was that it was one of the ways he could “stand up.” I think it meant a lot to him to know that he was doing his part to ensure the next generations would continue to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and know the importance of standing up.
I also believe seeing this project come to fruition meant that our family’s history and the histories of other survivors, would not be forgotten. He once said that the blood of my grandparents and the aunt I never knew continue to run through my blood, and now, through this project, their histories, along with my father’s, remain strong in my heart and memory. With the creation of this project, he could depend on the fact that I will remember, and I will play my part in making sure the rest of the world does too.
MM: What does this project mean to you?
MGG: This project is my small way of honouring the memory of the 6,000,000 Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust and the survivors who tried to continue meaningful lives despite their incredible loss. It is my constant reminder of my responsibility to stand up, to remember, and most importantly, to help make the world a better place. It is my opportunity to show students not only the horrors of the Holocaust but also the strength and resilience of survivors – and to show them that they too can find strength, overcome challenges and make the world a better place. Finally, it allows me to honour my father’s memory in a way that was so meaningful to him.
To learn more about Carrying Holocaust Testimony you can visit https://testimonyfromgenerationtogeneration.com. You can reach Michelle directly at [email protected].
Melissa Mikel