In this lecture, Professor Atina Grossmann addresses a transnational Holocaust story that remarkably – despite several decades of intensive scholarly and public attention to the history and memory of the Shoah – has remained essentially untold, marginalized in both historiography and commemoration.

Rafael Grosz describes his memory of Passover as a child in Bergen-Belsen.

Armenian Genocide Survivor Hovsana Kumjian sings the ballad Der Zor Chollerende (Desert of Der Zor). During the genocide victims sang this song in Turkish while on the forced marches into the Syrian Desert. The song is often from a child’s perspective and describes violent scenes and feelings of hopelessness. Kumjian states she sings this song in memory for the victims, every April 24, the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Kumjian is a survivor of the death march from Kilis, Turkey.

English Translation of Der Zor Chollerende

Miriam explains that the Jewish refugees living in Shanghai, China had no intention to stay there once the war ended, and that helped them to retain hope in surviving the war.

Edith Kaufman describes her thoughts as she stayed at a hospital at the Ravensbruck camp during Passover. Although she could not formally celebrate the holiday, she refused to eat bread as a gesture of defiance.

Berthold Katz talks about Kanoh Ghoya, a Japanese official responsible for giving monthly passes to Jews who were living in the Hongkew ghetto in Shanghai, China and remembers his brutal treatment of the ghetto inhabitants.

Dora Szlajcher explains how she was able to borrow books even though it was forbidden in the harsh years of the Holocaust, and how reading helped her escape her difficult situation.

Guatemalan Genocide survivor Aracely Garrido reflects on the seemingly eternal suffering endured by indigenous civilian non-combatant populations in a Guatemalan village who practiced their own limited form of resistance during the war.

Zenon Neumark describes the first anti-Jewish laws and policies that affected his life and how he became involved in a resistance group. He says that while it was difficult to escape, he thought it took more courage to stay.