Our volunteer writing partners are people of different ages, life stages and religious, cultural and education backgrounds. They share the desire to learn more about the Holocaust and support survivors in telling their stories in the manner that was meaningful to them.
In the fall of 2014, participating in Sustaining Memories as a volunteer writing partner proved to be a unique learning opportunity for me. I had no personal experience or reference for the Holocaust other than a fascination with reading novels set during this period. My own parents had been born in Montreal and their parents had come from Russia in 1905. The Holocaust had not touched my family nor the families of the children with whom I grew up.
Working on this project would be the first time I would meet a survivor in person, much less speak to one. I was a little nervous. The orientation sessions we attended prior to being paired with our partners were critical. They were extremely interesting and informative — a combination of history, vocabulary and sensitivity training — as well as the practicalities of interview skills and using a tape recorder. They were essential preparation.
My partner was an 82-year-old male, a child survivor who had only recently begun to open up and talk about his Holocaust experience. The decision to tell his story as part of this project had been a difficult one. I was very sensitive to the trust he was placing in me by embarking on this emotional journey into the past.
I visited him in his apartment, where he lived with his Canadian-born wife, for approximately two hours once a week, for five weeks. I recorded these sessions, where he talked and I listened, interrupting as little as possible. Avoiding offering my comments or feedback was challenging. At home, I transcribed and edited theses recordings, trying to keep the story in his own words, as much as possible.
I gained so much from this whole experience. Finding that my survivor/partner was healthy and sound, living a seemingly happy and “normal” life here in Toronto with a wife, married children and grandchildren, after suffering such unbelievable atrocities as a child, was a remarkable discovery for me. It filled me with awe and respect. I was so impressed with his positive attitude and ability to appreciate what he had accomplished.
I am so grateful that I volunteered for this project. I learned so much about the horrors of the camps that this child witnessed and was subjected to.
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