The Children of Bergen-Belsen

In 2014, I learned about 2,000 children who had been born in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp after liberation. I wondered what had happened to them and how their place of birth had affected their lives (or not). My aim was to explore a part of German post-war history that is rarely talked about - the time after liberation and the fate of the survivors and their children. After making initial contacts with people born there, I interviewed and portrayed them on three different continents. By the end of my research, I had taken large-format photographs of their birthplace in Bergen-Belsen, recorded 29 testimonies from around the world, and gathered historical photographs from the private archives of the interviewees.

And while their stories offer the reader a glimpse into their lives and those of their ancestors, it seems as if many of their accounts and experiences have found a painful way into our present. They tell of war and hunger, the hardships of displacement and the reasons for flight. They speak of anti-Semitism and enduring racism, of attempts to adapt and integrate into new societies and the embitterment when that doesn't work. They speak of intergenerational trauma and resentment, of forgiveness and reconciliation that seem impossible. They describe the search for one's roots and a sense of belonging. They tell of hard work, false papers and statelessness, of countries closing their borders and a lack of accountability. And they also tell of joy and rebirth, of humor as the last weapon against terror. They speak of love and hope, even if of a most complicated kind.

After almost 10 years of working on the project, I had finally raised the funds to produce a book with Kehrer Verlag, which was published in 2023. I hope for this work to contribute to the global discourse on memory culture and the Holocaust, and to highlight the intersections of different histories of violence and survival, and their legacies, which are still perpetuated and extend into our present. Please contact me via email if you'd like to order a copy.