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Between life and death. Stories of rescue during the Holocaust

Exhibition at the European Commission in Brussels, Rue de la Loi 170, Charlemagne building. Organisers: European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Silent Heroes Memorial Center in the German Resistance Memorial Center Foundation

Testimonies on aid rendered to Jews during the Second World War invoke both the most horrific and the most worthy aspects of our history. This is why on the eve of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day an exhibition devoted to stories of rescue is being opened at the European Commission in Brussels. Accounts of both survivors and rescuers from different European countries will be on view from 24 January until 6 March. The exhibition is a joint initiative of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Silent Heroes Memorial Center in the German Resistance Memorial Center Foundation.

The Jewish genocide in the war-torn Europe claimed millions of lives. In the face of the tragic fate of Jews, local populations of the German-occupied countries along with some of the ordinary Germans were put in a dilemma which they probably had never imagined they would face: how to react to such mass atrocity? And while individual answers to this question differed widely, only few offered help to people seeking to survive.

The exhibition "Between life and death. Stories of rescue during the Holocaust" presents accounts from nine European countries: Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine. By outlining stories of survivors along with those of rescuers, the display highlights complexity of human relations under extreme conditions. The testimonies are moreover shown against a broader historical background, as to give a better understanding of local possibilities for Jews to survive and for helpers to provide aid.

"Between life and death. Stories of rescue during the Holocaust" will be on display between 24 January and 6 March at the European Commission in Brussels (Charlemagne building, Rue de la Loi 170).

The exhibition will be launched on 24 January by Dimitris Avramopoulos, Member of the European Commission for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship and representatives of the ENRS, POLIN Museum and Silent Heroes Memorial Center. Guests of honor for the event include witnesses to history - Holocaust survivors Elżbieta Ficowska, Jehoshua Shochot, and Elisabeth Drillich.

Following its presentation in Brussels, the exhibition will be shown in other European cities.
Organisers: European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Silent Heroes Memorial Center in the German Resistance Memorial Center Foundation

Funding: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM)

Partners: Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, Memorial Chambon sur Lignon, Memorial de la Shoah, Danish Jewish Museum, "Tkuma" Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies, Castrum Peregrini, Museum of the Second World War, NIOD, the Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Photo: © Marta Ansilewska-Lehnstaedt/Gedenkstätte Stille Helden