Permanent show on genocide, Holocaust opens
THE STORIES of survivors of the Holocaust in Germany and the Rwandan genocide need to be told in order to prevent such atrocities from happening again.
These are the sentiments behind the opening of the permanent exhibition on genocides at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre yesterday.
The curated exhibition explores the history of genocide in the 20th century with a focus on the case studies of the Holocaust, where about 6 million European Jews were killed by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, and the Rwandan genocide which resulted in the mass slaughter of about 800 000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority.
The stories of Veronica Phillips, a Holocaust survivor, and Sylvestre Sendacyeye, a Rwandan genocide survivor, are part of the exhibition.
Phillips, 93, from Budapest, Hungary, survived three concentration camps in Germany, the “international ghetto” in Budapest and the Death march. Her mother and brother survived the Holocaust while her father was murdered.
Phillips moved to Johannesburg after World War II.
Sendacyeye, 39, hid in a church when the Rwandan genocide began on April 20, 1994. He and his two brothers survived. His parents and three other siblings were murdered.
He then came to Johannesburg in 2000 to receive medical treatment before settling in the city.
Tali Nates, director of the centre, said its creation began 10 years ago.
“We started with interviews, filming, collecting photographs, artefacts and consulting.
“We started to build the centre in 2012 and moved in in 2016 and then the exhibition team worked for the last two years,” Nates said. |
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