The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme begins the “In Conversation” series The series brings Holocaust survivors and their families together to talk about family and memory, home and belonging, and what it means to carry the history of the Holocaust so intimately. The theme guiding the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme in 2023 is “Home and Belonging”. To mark Yom HaShoah in 2023, we turn to the matter of family as a core part of what “Home and Belonging” means.
of a conversation hosted by Melissa Fleming, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications across three generations: sisters Edith Shapiro and Selma Rossen, Edith’s son, Mark Shapiro, and Selma’s grandson, Alex Rossen. Born in Zlaclov, Poland, Edith was six and Selma was four when the Second World War began. Through hiding in cellars, in bunkers, in attics, and being sheltered by courageous rescuers, Edith, Selma and their parents survived. Today Edith is a retired psychiatrist, and Selma, a retired engineer. Mark is a professional musician and conductor, and Alex is the co-founder of the Zikaron collective, an initiative about raising awareness on the link between state violence and intergenerational trauma.