The Retelling and Transmission of Holocaust Testimonies in Mexico: A New Oral History Collection of the Second Generation

• In Event: New Generations of Holocaust Memory in Latin America

Abstract

Unlike other countries in the Americas (such as the United States in the north and Argentina in the south), in Mexico, testimonies of Holocaust survivors were collected later. Aside from the memoirs of some survivors that were written in the post-war period (some published and others unpublished), the systematic collection of testimonies began in the late 1980s and continued throughout the 1990s. These efforts were the result of transnational collaborations launched from Israel and the United States. This is how they constitute essential access points to the stories of survivors who immigrated to Mexico. The emphasis was placed on documenting and preserving the life stories of those who comprised this small community. However, in the 21st century, a new testimonial project emerged focusing on the so-called second generation. Currently, this collection is in the process of being integrated into various universities or research centers. This paper analyzes the new testimonial collection of the children of survivors, focusing especially on the stories of the children whose parents gave testimony previously. It represents a new source from which to examine the retelling of these stories, encompassing biographical elements that were not shared by their parents (perhaps by choice or omission), narratives of survival and their transmission, trauma seen from the perspective of the children, and the possible new interpretations that can be made of these life stories as the temporality of the narrative expands.

Author

• Yael Siman, Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City