After the Holocaust: Family History, Memory, and Identity in the aftermath of World War II

Jewish survivors of the Holocaust in Displaced Persons (DP) camps rebuilt their lives with remarkable resilience, creating families and ushering in an unprecedented baby boom. At the same time, family memory—preserved through stories, documents, and traditions—became a powerful means of reconstructing identity after profound loss. In this lecture, Dr. Serafima Velkovich explored how family history research and personal narratives intersect with the history of DP camps and demonstrated how individuals can uncover traces of former DP babies within their own family histories. Watch Velkovich of Yad Vashem and Shirley Grill of Shomrei Emunah as they explore the resilience and rebuilding of lives in the aftermath of the Shoah. In their conversation, Shirley shared her lived experiences as a DP baby, and how it shaped her as an adult.