Fohrenwald Children: A Jewish Shtetl of Displaced Persons Connects via an Interactive Documentary and The Holocaust Handie-Memorial

After the Holocaust and World War II, Displaced Person camps were formed to take care of and shelter the homeless. "Föhrenwald Children” are Jewish children who experienced their childhood in DP camps after World War II and the Holocaust. One of the children`s father survived Auschwitz and this is the first time his story is heard, shared and recorded.

From 1945-1951, Föhrenwald was one of the largest exclusively Jewish DP camps under American Allied control. As of 2015, refugees still reside in the same buildings where, 70 years earlier in 1945, the former Jewish DP’s lived. My research involves the story of two of these Föhrenwald Children who lived together and grew up in the camp. I also argue that there must be interactivity and participation in contemporary memorialization of the Holocaust.

It still a place of anguish for those residing there. Hence reporting and reflecting upon the powerful images and stories of the past are crucial to help victims of the current 2015 refugee crisis know that they are not alone. Those traumatized by the original 1945 displacement also strove to find sanctuary from the same immigration quotas, falsely imposed guilt, and Anti-Semitism that exist today.