Shoah honors forgotten Holocaust victims

On Monday, the USC Shoah Foundation hosted a special presentation in the Ronald Tutor Campus Center by Douglas Greenberg about the “forgotten” Holocaust story of the providence of Wolyn, Poland.

The event focused on the story of the Jewish population of Wolyn during the Holocaust and how its story has been widely forgotten.

Greenberg is a current Rutgers University professor who served as executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation from 2000 to 2008. He returned to USC this year as an Institute Fellow to carry out research in USC’s Visual History Archive regarding the richly historic, yet often overlooked region of Wolyn.

“I feel that I gained a completely different perspective from the lecture,” said Jason Cheong, a sophomore majoring in history. “In class we’ve only been taking one approach to the history of the Holocaust, so it was interesting to learn this side too.”

In his presentation, Greenberg discussed how his personal interest in this field began with his own grandfather, who lived in the region of Wolyn. This personal connection, combined with Greenberg’s background in history, are both factors which sparked his curiosity in the Holocaust history of Wolyn.

His research seeks to reconstruct and shine a light on the experience of the Wolyn survivors. This task, however, is incredibly difficult due to the complex history of Wolyn, as well as the fact that only 1.5 percent of Jews in Wolyn communities survived the Holocaust.

“I think that I have uncovered an aspect of the Holocaust that is mostly unknown,” Greenberg said. “I hope that [attendees of the lecture] come away with an awareness that the Holocaust was not a simple event in history, and its complexity is important.”

Many of the students who attended were able to relate the lecture directly to their various classes, such as those in Jewish history courses and religious or conflict study classes.

“In my class, we’re examining different case studies and deciding whether or not religion is directly tied to violence,” said Natalie Tecimer, a junior majoring in international relations. “The Holocaust is clearly a prime example of this, and I feel like I gained a better understanding of my class and of the Holocaust itself by listening to this lecture.”

Greenberg discussed the specific nature of his work in the archives, as well. Over the years, he has devoted himself to research which relies on approximately 500 video interviews in the Shoah Foundation archive.

During the presentation, Greenberg played an archive segment of one of the Wolyn survivors detailing her experience in escaping Wolyn. The survivor touched on the fact that the horrific and unspeakable experiences that her loved ones faced are forgotten in history.

“Personally, it was my first time hearing about Wolyn,” said Rebecca Ahdoot, a sophomore majoring in public relations. “Seeing that video made me realize how much of a tragedy it is that those people’s lives and experiences are just forgotten.”

As Greenberg shared, 98.5 percent of Wolyn Jews were exterminated, leaving a very limited number of survivors to tell their story. Through his research in the archives, however, Greenberg hopes to raise not only awareness of the issue, but also tolerance and education of the complexity of this event.

“The speaker really brought to life the fact that those in Wolyn did not receive as much attention those murdered in the concentration camps,” said Emily Shemian, an undecided freshman. “Public memory needs to be amended and bring forth these truths that have been really held back.”

When asked about the most difficult part of his research, Greenberg noted that the subject is incredibly emotionally taxing.

“It is challenging to maintain composure and emotional distance [when watching the archives] for scholarly work, while simultaneously feeling such powerful emotion towards the subject,” Greenberg said. “However, I do feel that my research has made me a better human being.”