Contemporary witnesses and the culture of remembrance
In the more than 70 years since the Liberation of the prisoner of war camp and concentration camp, a diverse culture of remembrance has developed worldwide.
Particularly in the first months and years after Liberation, survivors often felt the need to report on what had happened/their experiences and to compile and preserve evidence of the crimes. This was done by compiling lists of the dead and survivors, writing diaries, documentary drawings or witness statements. Some survivors, on the other hand, were initially only able to continue living by largely suppressing and remaining silent about their own persecution experiences.
It was only with their grandchildren's generation and due to changed social conditions that many were able to talk about what they had experienced and suffered. The impetus for coming to terms with Bergen-Belsen often came from outside. Examples include the Eichmann trial (1961) and outbreaks of war such as the Second Gulf War (1990) or the Ukraine War (2022). The death of family members and friends also often led to a preoccupation with one's own history. For many survivors, remembering therefore also meant (religious) remembrance of family members who were killed in Bergen-Belsen.
Political and social structures also had a recognisable influence on individual remembrance. The development of the culture of remembrance in the new home countries depended on the importance of the survivors for the state's political self-image. This can be seen in the way the survivors and their associations were treated through concealment and in some cases even persecution, for example in Hungary and the former Soviet Union, in contrast to the state reception of the Shoah in Israel.
In the immediate post-war period, the time after Liberation and return to the countries of origin or emigration, the focus was on honouring the dead. In various countries, places of personal mourning were created in order to deal with the physical distance from the place of death and the undignified burial in mass graves.
With the distance in time and the renewed rise of anti-Semitism, these memorials were given the additional function of a general reminder and remembrance of the National Socialist crimes in the 1960s. Survivors' associations initiated the erection of a copy of the Jewish memorial in Bergen-Belsen in Jerusalem and in Montreal.
Today, only a few survivors of Bergen-Belsen are still alive. The activities of their organisations are now often carried out by subsequent generations. Those who were born in the DP camp continue to represent a special link between the generations. The knowledge collected at the memorial centre is now becoming increasingly important for family traditions.