Swenja Granzow-Rauwald

Swenja Granzow-Rauwald is the granddaughter of survivors of two satellite camps of the Neuengamme concentration camp. She works on creating a future of remembrance that acknowledges the past, critically assesses the present and considers the needs of the generations to come.

The European project “Convoi 77” and the History of Avram and Luna Mordo

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Interview with Jacqueline B. The „Convoi 77“ was the last convoy of deportees taken from Drancy to Auschwitz. The descendants of the deportees of „Convoi 77“ are working on finding the last traces of the deportees. It is a project that also is also directed at high schoolers. Jacqueline B. ist the grand-daughter of Avram et Luna Mordo. Swenja … Read more

Note from the editor – New supporters for the Reflections blog

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We are delighted to be able to share with you that the Reflections blog gained new supporters. Three of the associations in which survivors of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp and descendants of former prisoners of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp are organized have joined the German Friends of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial as benefactors. We would like … Read more

“Be prepared to listen!”

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Interview with Yvonne Cossu-Alba and Ulrich Gantz on the dialogue between descendants of victims and the descendants of perpetrators From 15-20 August 2016, the International Nuremberg Principles Academy held the Summer Academy entitled “Education in the Aftermath of Conflict: Learning from the past?” Participants discussed the role of education in post-conflict societies with a special focus on … Read more

“The guiding principle should always be humanity.”

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Interview with Alexandra Senfft On May 2nd, 2016, Alexandra Senfft’s new book „Der lange Schatten der Täter. Nachkommen stellen sich ihrer NS-Familiengeschichte“ (“The Perpetrators’ Long Shadow. Descendants Face their Nazi Family History”) was published. The author, the granddaughter of the „Gesandte des Driten Reiches in der Slowakei“ („Envoy of the Third Reich to Slovakia“), demonstrates through dialogues with other … Read more

Forum “Future of Remembrance” 2016

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From April 30 till May 2, 2016, the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial in Hamburg, Germany, invites descendants of former concentration camp prisoners, members of survivors associations, Memorial staff and organizations supporting their work as well as young adults and other interested individuals to the Forum “Future of Remembrance” (program) to discuss questions regarding the creation of … Read more

Interview with Lauren Fox, author of “Days of Awe”

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Interview with Lauren Fox, author of “Days of Awe”

The author Lauren Fox. © Amanda Schlicher.

When I had finished „Days of Awe“ I was happy and sad at the same time. Happy, because Lauren Fox had written a realistic ending to the story of Izzy, daughter of a Holocaust survivor, whose world is turned upside down when the loss of both her best friend and her husband leave disenchanted with middle-aged life. Sad, because I wanted to know more, especially about where Lauren Fox had found the courage to create a protagonist whose family’s experience of persecution plays a role in her life without being the only thing that defines her.

Fortunately, Lauren Fox  agreed to answer some questions I had emailed her.

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“Days of Awe” by Lauren Fox

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A novel about a Holocaust survivor’s daughter living in the present, not the past

I have been waiting for a novel like „Days of Awe“ by Lauren Fox for a long time. Finally, an author dares to portray the daughter of a Holocaust survivor as a person whose life is multi-faceted, and only one of these facets is the trauma experienced by her family. In fact, Izzy, the second generation narrator, at 43 struggles to keep her worn-out life as wife, mother and confidante from falling apart much the same way as other women might do, that is, with a healthy mixture of longing to be truly seen, a pinch of dark humor and some self-loathing.

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Commemoration strengthens democracy: A great-grandson sets an example

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Commemoration Strengthens Democracy: A Great-Grandson set an example

Tom Devos has a good friend. Together, they are active in an organization. They have even gone on group trips abroad. Nothing unusual, you say. But when Tom is invited at age fifteen by his friend to get involved in the organization, his friend is already well over 60 years old. For Tom, the shared interest in the history of the village Meensel-Kiezegem is more important than the age difference. The Stichting Meensel-Kiezegem ’44 is committed to ensuring that the violent crimes of the Nazis are not repeated and that the victims of the „punitive actions“ committed by the Nazis against the village Meensel-Kiezegem will be remembered. Tom’s great-grandfather Evrard Cauwbergs was one of the 71 men who were deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp after the two raids in August 1944. Evrard Cauwbergs died on November 7, 1944 in the Neuengamme concentration camp.

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Visitors welcome! Research at the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial Archives

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There are probably archives where visitors are considered a nuissance. Here we gladly meet with them. This is how Dr. Reimer Möller, head of the archives of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, describes his work. In fact, more and more relatives of former Neuengamme concentration camp prisoners now come to the archives to find out more … Read more

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