Community - Holocaust Survivors Marina Kamanev shares a unique story with the audience of the website Narratively that details the life inside an aging community consisting of Holocaust survivors based in Sydney, Australia. Kamanev outlines the efforts the community makes for each other and the bonds that they share. By writing this piece, she shares the stories of some key people in this community and their goals for what they hope to leave behind.
This text was written online and reads as a typical news article. There are several images that reference stories outlined in the text. For example, the first picture in the article is of a rather old looking lady dressed fairly nicely. This photo is of one of the main Holocaust survivors discussed in great detail, Olga Horak, in which Kamanev even mentions why she dresses the way she does. The paragraphs are short in this body of text, some paragraphs only consisting of quotes from the people she interviewed. This is done not only to separate sub-topics, but also to emphasize the words of the interviewee, rather than the interviewer. With most of the information coming from the people within the community themselves, Kamanev places the credibility of her work in their hands. She allows them to discuss the importance of their community, which at times can lead to slight bias. The survivors place a certain amount of importance on their story, that someone with an outside view could not necessarily do. They state that their role as volunteers at the museum “is to prevent the museum from calcifying into a sepulchral display of faded genocide, as far removed from the present day as Tutankhamun’s tomb.” This is a dramatized sentence that allows for readers to truly understand why these survivors, in the old age that they are, continue to share their stories publically. Pathos is especially evidenced in this profile of the surviving community simply because the experience in which the members share in and formed the community on is emotional itself. The Holocaust broke apart millions of families and communities alike. However, it has brought this group of people together. The argument being made about this community is that this group of survivors are old, but they are not willing to let go of sharing their first-hand accounts. Olga Horak who was previously mentioned, goes the Sydney Jewish Museum three times a week to share her story. This requires her to arrive an hour early to get a parking spot close to the door so that she can walk in, and she usually collapses of low blood pressure after each meeting, but she will not let her account become something of the distant past. One survivor recalls: “This is my personal torture chamber, but I can’t keep away.” Of course, the conversations had within this community are difficult to discuss, but the survivors feel a sort of comfort in knowing that their stories are being heard. Kamanev discusses the hardness to open up that survivors have when she cites how many of the survivors believe it is pointless to receive group therapy and open up about their experiences so long after the events. However, they also realize the need to do so for each other. Over 30% of residents at Sir Moses Montefiore Jewish home for the elderly were survivors of the Holocaust. As repressed memories are brought to mind with deterioration of the mind, PTSD symptoms of many residents becomes worse, and caregivers become frustrated in treating them. This is where the community of volunteers steps in to help the caregivers recognize different triggers and understand the experiences of the residents in more detail. The community of 42 survivors that continue to serve as volunteers look out for each other and for the future. They share the same types of experiences from long ago, but also the same passions in the current day. This community exists and is dwindling quickly. The article written on them provides an outlet for their accounts to never be forgotten, even when they are gone. It provides readers with not only an understanding of their lives during the Holocaust, but also who they became and who they will leave as.
2 Comments
Chad Howser
4/5/2018 11:41:43 am
Margaret this RAB talks about a group our generation I feel like knows all too well. However even with this knowledge that most people possess you found a new group that most people have probably never heard of, I for sure haven’t. This is a community that faced this terrible tragedy of their lives, and continue to live in a whole different part of the world but are still brought together by this common experience. Another thing that at the end you recognized is that while this community will eventually die out, their words will cause them to live on forever. This article and your analysis was very interesting and I was thoroughly attentive the entire time.
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Clare McGrady
4/9/2018 08:07:48 pm
Hey Margaret! First, I think that you chose a really great article to analyze – it is packed with great stories and details about this community. Your summary and articulation of purpose were well-presented and clear. You also mentioned pathos, which is important in a rhetorical analysis. One thing I wish you would have expanded on was the three frames at work in the profile. While most of your post address the frames indirectly, it is not explicitly mentioned. My favorite part of the article was the ending quote, “They will never know”. This cemented the fact that this group is extremely special although they are quickly disappearing.
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