Activism

This chapter considers the beginning of survivor activism by speaking in schools and taking an active role in commemoration and education more broadly, which links to the work of these associations who encourage and support survivors in this role. Retirement can be a central factor in the time available for survivors to accomplish this task and dedicate themselves to this vocation, with child survivors being continually drawn on to speak in the absence of the older cohort no longer alive to give testimony. Activism and imparting Holocaust educational lessons also extends to the second generation, some of whom are accepted into Holocaust survivor associations before younger survivors, who lived through the Holocaust as very young children. This chapter overall argues that while the youngest child survivors are viewed as a ‘final resort’ when everyone else is too frail or unable to give testimony, they have seen a new emphasis and validation of their identities that has been a struggle for many. But there are still some issues in these communities and a struggle with recognition, which can be evidenced in the relationship with the second generation and child survivors in terms of association membership. This chapter brings the Holocaust in context to present-day Britain through the lens of how consuming images and material of death and atrocity can retraumatise survivors. Therefore, this chapter will consider how the news, current events, modern examples of genocide, political events and other examples of hatred influence how a survivor sees their role, views themselves and perceives the world. Are they vocal because they want to prevent recurrence and perceive it as a duty, or is it that they think they have more weight as a survivor, exacting a pressure point because of the elevation of their experiences? Overall, this chapter argues that survivors feel an intense sense of duty to overcome their potential retraumatisation to impart crucial messages to their audiences regarding issues of anti-Semitism and racism in Britain and internationally in addition to developments regarding Britain offering asylum to refugees from countries such as Syria.