Several members of the family were imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen; four of the surviving family members wrote down their stories after the Liberation. Ab, Annelie, Chanan and No’omi are therefore the focus of the website. They are introduced by their grandchildren, who, by building this generational bridge, link the family history to the present day.
“This project started with the personal writing of my parents and grew into a broader family archive. It has now become an impressive website,” says Elisha Tal, son of Chanan and Annelie Tal. “This translation brings new meaning, and we hope it will encourage people to reflect on how injustice manifests, and on the importance of the silent majority taking action when they witness human rights violations.“
The website focuses on life before imprisonment, deportation to Bergen-Belsen, life in the camp, Liberation and life afterwards. Based on these accounts, as well as documents, photos and videos, the website can be used for various purposes: to prepare for a visit to the memorial site, for educational work in Bergen-Belsen, and to engage with the history of Bergen-Belsen without visiting the historical sites. We have designed the website, amongst other things, for use in multi-day seminar programmes on the persecution of Jews, using the Netherlands as a case study.
The website has been online since 15 April 2026 at: https://theirownwords.org/
Initially, the site is available in English only; German, Hebrew and Dutch versions will be published in June 2026.
The “Their Own Words” project was funded by the Claims Conference; the website was designed by the design agency oblik.