New project asks Holocaust survivors: What memory do you want the world to remember?

"Given your experience as an Auschwitz survivor, what is one specific thing you want people to remember for generations to come?" the social media campaign asks.

By MICHAEL STARR JANUARY 13, 2025 04:59

Holocaust survivor Ella Blumenthal, 103 years old of South Africa (photo credit: Claims Conference)

A new digital campaign sharing the memories that Holocaust survivors wish for the world never to forget will be launched on Monday to coincide with the  80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) two-week social media campaign featured recordings of 80 survivors answering the question, "Given your experience as an Auschwitz survivor, what is one specific thing – a person, a moment, or an experience – you want people to remember for generations to come?"

According to the Claims Conference, the campaign was inspired in party by Auschwitz survivor Aron Krell’s testimony about his brother, Zvi, who died of starvation in the Lodz ghetto.

“Please never forget me,” Krell recalled the last words of his brother, explaining in his testimony, "I lost not only Zvi, but my brother Moshe and my mother, Esther, in the Holocaust. I survived five concentration camps and ghettos – including Auschwitz.

I know many people can’t fathom what I have endured. But you can understand loving a brother like I loved Zvi, can imagine the unbearable pain that comes with losing one, and, hopefully, agree that the lessons of the Holocaust must always be remembered.”

THE FRONT GATE of Auschwitz carries the infamous phrase: ‘Arbeit macht frei.’ The writer states: ‘Perhaps we as Jews are less alone in our grief than we may fear.’ (credit: KACPER PEMPEL/REUTERS)

'I never, never lost hope'

103-year-old survivor Ella Blumenthal explained in her testimony that she wanted the world to remember her resolve.

"Throughout my suffering, and fight for survival, I never, never lost hope. When I was in Auschwitz, I had already lost my entire family and survived only with my niece Roma. She begged me to end our suffering by throwing ourselves onto the electrified fence because she said the only way out of Auschwitz was through the chimney. I convinced her to wait one more day – and then again another day – because I wasn’t ready to die. I wanted to live,” said Blumnethal, who lives in South Africa.

"I have lived my life always believe that tomorrow will be better than today and that I would never give up no matter what.'

Judith Hervé-Elkán, 98, told the Conference that she would never forget the mothers who chose to go to the gas chambers with their children rather than let them suffer alone.

“The mother dying with her child in her arms, leading her child to death, is, for me the most terrible of the images I still see today," said Hervé-Elkán. "So many mothers, not knowing what awaited them, didn't let go of their children, their babies, their little ones. What is more terrible in the world than to lead your child to death.”

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Claims Conference president Gideon Taylor said in a press release that the horrors of Auschwitz should not be forgotten. Claims Conference Executive Vice President Greg Schneider explained that campaigns like Remember This were critical in understanding the experiences of people who endured otherwise unimaginable atrocities.

"Only by ensuring everyone understands that hatred and divisiveness were at the foundation of the Holocaust can we overcome ignorance and meet our obligation to remember,” said Schneider.