Since its inception, Yad Vashem has worked tirelessly to collect the names of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, and to document their lives. This exhibition tells the stories of just a few of the names that appear in Yad Vashem's Book of Names, a monumental installation containing the names of 4,800,000 Holocaust victims, which have been collected over decades. Each name, each person was an entire world, replete with memories, experiences and aspirations. Entire worlds take shape before our eyes, and the prewar lives of the victims and their fate during the Holocaust are revealed. From the photographs, the faces of men, women and children - babies and toddlers, youngsters, adults and the elderly - gaze at us. We see their faces, learn their names, discover their stories, and remember.
The Holocaust touches me in a very deep way, because I lived it. For fifty years, I didn't speak about my experiences, and for 25 years, I could not laugh. The Nazis left me without any tears; the enormity of the devastation, of the deliberate and planned murder of six million innocent people, among them 1.5 million children, was too much to bear. The fact that there is a Book of Names of so many of these victims ensures that when the last Holocaust survivor dies, our story will remain for humanity to know and remember. The Book will continue to be a testimony to our lives as survivors, as well as to the victims – who lived and breathed like my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins did. Each of them had their own unique identity, talents, challenges and dreams. Each one is an entire world, forever lost.
(Bronia Rubin-Brandman)
Bronia Rubin-Brandman survived Auschwitz. Her parents, brother and sisters were murdered. The story of the Rubin family is one of the eight stories presented in this exhibition.
