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Echoes of Memory

Read reflections and testimonies written by Holocaust survivors in their own words.

These essays and testimonials come from our guided writing workshops for Holocaust Survivors. Learn more about our Writing Workshop for Holocaust Survivors.

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Displaying 1-10 of 522 Essays

  • My Uncle Zigmund

    I didn’t see it as a young person, but I do see it now that my uncle was a broken man, who lost his life achievements and his place at the age of 42, and never really regained them.

  • The Girl from Yugoslavia

    That’s how my classmates from Israel remember me. And I like it. It’s like giving me an endearing nickname. Because I loved Yugoslavia.

  • After the War

    I remember one event that changed my childhood: In 1945, France was liberated and its citizens who were in refugee camps in Switzerland were offered train tickets to return home.

  • Being Refugees

    Telling my story, verbally or in writing, is part of my attempt to describe the impact the Holocaust had on my parents and on me.

  • Remembrance and Memories

    Yom Hashoah was very present in our lives these last few days. I commemorated the deaths of my aunts, uncles, and cousins who were killed.

  • Telling My Story

    When asked to talk about how I survived World War II, I am fortunate that in my family we talked freely about the war and what happened to us.

  • Ode to My Three Daughters

    When I gave birth to my three perfect baby daughters, each born almost two years apart, little did I think what they would be like when they themselves would become mothers.

  • Keeping My Husband’s Presence

    Memory becomes less retentive, sometimes drifting in the shadows. There’s a hole in my heart that remains constant.

  • Golden Age Ruminations

    “And the old woman forgot to die” was a memorable sentence in a book by Lisa See. I had a grandmother about whom one could have said that sentence.