Professionalizing Survival: The Politics of Public Memory Among Holocaust Survivor-Educators in Montreal

The authors point out that the majority of Holocaust survivors never speak publicly about their experiences, but those who do tend to find themselves at the centre of commemorative work in their communities. As Holocaust scholars, Holocaust education institutions, and members of the general public become increasingly interested in how to ethically universalize the lessons of the Holocaust, the public Holocaust survivor's role has broadened. The authors claim that it is no longer enough to recount one's own experience; survivors are expected to speak to current human rights abuses and genocides. In Montreal, a city which once claimed the third largest survivor population in the world, public survivors do a great deal of work. They give testimony in schools and at commemorative events, organize book clubs, write plays, direct films, teach, act as museum docents, and assume roles as community spokespeople. Given their dedication to this work, and a push to get them to speak beyond their personal experiences, the authors argue that there is a major shift taking place: the act of giving public Holocaust testimony is being professionalized. They point out that this professionalization raises unique questions about how people who lived through the Holocaust conceptualize themselves and their identities as survivors. By treating testimony as professional work, survivors contemplate, on a daily basis and in an applied manner, their stances on big questions regarding hierarchies of suffering, comparability, the connection between the personal and the political, blame and forgiveness, as well as many other relevant themes that are central to Holocaust and memory scholarship. All of this plays out in their testimonies.

Journal of Modern Jewish Studies

Vol. 12

no. 2

210-231

July 2013

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