Esther says the first time she remembers crying was when she cried about the Holocaust and it suddenly made sense why she and her family were the way they were – that her mother used to cry a lot and how they were all anxious. They both talk about coming to terms with their Jewish identity. Leah describes dropping the British name her parents gave her and taking on a Jewish one instead. Esther says that she found this weird at the time and how it was only when she went to Israel that she became aware of being Jewish and felt comfortable with it, that growing up in a small town in Devon she’d just wanted to be normal and her aunt and mother had embarrassed her with their Jewishness. Leah talks about how Israel has never held the same importance for her.
Collection: Multimedia
Project: 10. Churches and religions in Europe.
Chronology: 20th - 21st century
Scope: Secondary Education, Higher Education
Link: https://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/The-Listening-Project/021M-C1500X0562XX-0001V0
Resource type: Interview
Format: Multimedia
Source: The British Library Board
Language: English
Date: WWII. The interview was recorded in 2014.
Owner: Filippo Galletti (Modernalia)
Copyright: The British Library Board
Abstract: Leah asks Esther what it's like to be a second generation Holocaust survivor and they discuss how the Holocaust still looms large in their lives.
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