ON HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY, HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS LAUNCH YEAR-LONG DIGITAL CAMPAIGN SHARING STORIES OF SURVIVAL THAT MADE THEIR FAMILIES POSSIBLE

Partnering With Second and Third Generation Family Members, The #OurHolocaustStory Campaign Illustrates The Importance Of Passing On Holocaust Survivor Testimony – Families Make A Pledge To Remember; More Than 100 Holocaust Survivors And Their Families Participating.

NEW YORK, April 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) today announced the launch of a new digital campaign, Our Holocaust Story: A Pledge to Remember. The campaign features Holocaust survivors from across the United States and around the world with their second and third generation family members. The campaign illustrates the importance of passing on the stories of the Holocaust so future generations can learn from past atrocities.

Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference, said, “Each survivor has a poignant and unique story to tell of survival. By passing these stories on within their family, they make certain their story 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. Only then can we truly say, ‘never again.'”

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. The campaign demonstrates the importance of passing on survivor testimonies. 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, providing a moment in time when each of us can take on the extraordinary responsibility of keeping individual stories alive and ensuring future generations learn about and understand the lessons of the Holocaust.

Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference, said, “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 the torch of their testimony. We should all make a pledge to remember.”

Over 100 Holocaust survivors and their families are participating in the campaign, all of whom will be featured in posts across the Claims Conference’s social media platforms every week throughout the year. Survivor testimonies 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.

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.”

Ernie Friedlander, a Holocaust survivor born in Austria, currently living in Australia, shared his story with his son David Friedlander, saying, “…if not for one decent human being who cared, I probably wouldn’t be alive today.” Ernie concluded with, “Unfortunately, the rest of my family didn’t survive, including my father.”

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.”

Sonia Klein, a Holocaust survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz in Poland, recorded a video with her son, Alan Klein, and her grandson, Jordan Mello-Klein. Of his grandmother’s story, Jordan said, [they] “tried to dehumanize her and just minimize her to a number. But I tried to take that back; it’s way more than a number, she’s way more than a number.”

Shraga Milstein, a Holocaust survivor from Poland living in Israel, shared his story, saying, “In 1943, the ghetto was closed in Piotrkow, my hometown, and we were transferred to the Buchenwald camp. In 1945 when I was liberated from the Bergen-Belsen camp I was 12 years old. My parents had perished.”

Supporting this campaign are over 50 museums and institutions from across the United States and around the world, including: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM); Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center; International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); USC Shoah Foundation; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC); American Jewish Committee (AJC); The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA); The Jewish Agency for Israel; Center Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel; B’nai B’rith International; American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants; University College London Centre for Holocaust Education; The Holocaust, Their Family, Me and US; World Jewish Relief; Museum of Tolerance; Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre; Melbourne Holocaust Museum; Executive Council of Australian Jewry; The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust; Anne Frank Huis Amsterdam; Galicia Jewish Museum; Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas; Bundesministerium des Innern (BMI); Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalization; Haus der Wannseekonferenz; Simon-Wiesenthal Institute, Vienna; Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland; Auswartiges Amt; Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre; Holocaust Educational Trust of the UK; Holocaust Education Resource Center; European Jewish Congress; The Jewish Museum of Greece; Sydney Jewish Museum; Galicia Jewish Museum; The Association of Jewish Refugees; The Museum of Tolerance; Holocaust Museum Houston; Casip-Cojasor Foundation; Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah; International Auschwitz Committee; Central Council of Jews from Germany; Stiftung Jüdisches Museum Berlin; Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe; South Carolina Council on the Holocaust; Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center; Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center; Selfhelp Community Services; Westchester Jewish Community Services; United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn; Descendants of Holocaust Survivors; 3G New York; 3G Miami; and 3G Philadelphia.

Survivor videos from the campaign can be found on the campaign website: www.PledgetoRemember.org 

For more information about the Claims Conference, please visit: www.claimscon.org.

About the Claims Conference: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), a nonprofit organization with offices in New York, Israel and Germany, secures material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Founded in 1951 by representatives of 23 major international Jewish organizations, the Claims Conference negotiates for and disburses funds to individuals and organizations and seeks the return of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust. As a result of negotiations with the Claims Conference since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. In 2022, the Claims Conference distributed over $700 million in compensation to over 210,000 survivors in 83 countries and allocated over $720 million in grants to over 300 social service agencies worldwide that provide vital services for Holocaust survivors, such as homecare, food and medicine.

SOURCE Claims Conference