Re:Collection - The Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program
The Azrieli Foundation
- Canadian philanthropic organization
- Fields: education, architecture and design, Jewish community, Holocaust commemoration and education, scientific and medical research, and the arts
- Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program: Established in 2005
- Aim: Collect, preserve, share memoirs and diaries of Holocaust survivors who moved to Canada
Link to the Azrieli Foundation's Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program
Usability Matters
- Design Studio: Focuses on user experience
- Services: Strategy through design and research
- Clients: Arts, healthcare, logistics, not-for-profit, publishing, travel
Riddle Films
- Producers: Focus on performing arts and culture
- Distribution: TV, online, film festivals
- Platforms: CBC, Bravo, PBS, YLE, Canal+, TIFF, Sundance, MoMA
Link to Riddle Films
Caffeine Creations
- Development and Consulting: Led by Sean Smith, expert in Craft CMS
- Skills: Graphic design, javascript, HTML & CSS
- Experience: Over 15 years in web development
Link to Caffeine Creations
Notable Survivors and Their Stories
- Marie Doduck: Born 1935, Brussels; survived in Belgium and France; moved to Canada in 1947
- Judy Cohen: Born 1928, Hungary; survived Auschwitz-Birkenau; moved to Canada in 1948
- Kitty Salsberg & Ellen Foster: Born in Budapest; survived Budapest ghetto; moved to Canada in 1948
- Amek Adler: Born 1928, Poland; survived ghettos and camps; moved to Canada in 1954
- Maxwell Smart: Born 1930, Prague; survived by hiding; moved to Canada in 1948
- Joseph Schwarzberg: Born 1926, Germany; part of the Resistance; moved to Canada in 1968
- Anita Ekstein: Born 1934, Poland; hidden with Polish Catholics; moved to Canada in 1948
Holocaust Themes and Experiences
Family
- Importance: Center of Jewish life
- Post-Holocaust: Rebuilding lives in Canada
Pre-War Daily Life
- Diversity: Religious practices, socio-economic status
- Memories: Highlights of life before the war
Politics & War
- Impact: Geo-political developments before and during WWII
- Decisions: Struggles and strategies for survival
Discrimination & Persecution
- Historically: Waves of oppression, pogroms
- Nazi Era: State-sponsored antisemitism
Deportation
- Strategy: Movement to ill-treatment and murder
- Key Period: 1942 to 1944
Ghettos
- Purpose: Segregation and persecution in Eastern Europe
- Conditions: Overcrowding, starvation, disease
Camps
- Types: Concentration, transit, labour, death camps
- Notorious Site: Auschwitz
Violence & Mass Murder
- Final Solution: Nazi plan to kill all Jews
- Methods: Shooting operations, gas chambers
Resistance
- Forms: Armed uprisings, partisans, underground movements
- Spiritual Resistance: Maintaining cultural, educational activities
Hiding & Escape
- Strategies: Assumed identities, physical concealment
- Challenges: Risk and precariousness
Luck & Miracles
- Survival: Attributed to good fortune or fate
Rescuers & The Righteous
- Role of Rescuers: Risked lives to save Jews
- Acknowledgment: Righteous Among the Nations title by Yad Vashem
Liberation
- Varied Experiences: Different times and ways
- Post-War Challenges: Rebuilding lives, facing hatred
Immigration
- Initial Barriers: Canada's immigration policy changes post-1946
- War Orphans Project: Early youths admitted
Aftermath
- Challenges: Trauma, loss of homes and families
- Coping: Sharing histories to prevent repeated mistakes
Special Collections
- Warsaw Ghetto: Largest ghetto, site of significant resistance
- Auschwitz: Death and labour camp, infamous conditions
- Anti-Jewish Laws: Systematic implementation of discrimination
- Hidden Children: Survival stories of children, post-war challenges
- The Long Shadow of the Holocaust: Ongoing impact on survivors
Explore more on these themes and stories