<
https://theconversation.com/descendants-of-holocaust-survivors-explain-why-they-are-replicating-auschwitz-tattoos-on-their-own-bodies-206821>
"Rony Cohen doesn’t remember any particular moment when she first became aware
of the number tattooed on her grandmother’s arm. It was just always there.
Cohen says she felt as if she had experienced the Holocaust herself, in a
different cycle of her own life. It featured in her dreams. It permeated family
life, as did the self-imposed interdiction on talking about the past and the
absence of relatives. The legacy of starvation was never far from the surface.
Food was used to soothe. There was no waste. Her grandfather finished every
crumb from every plate.
The impact the Holocaust has had through the generations runs deep. Quite how
we remember the past and its legacy varies hugely. Cohen is one of a small but
growing number of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who
have replicated the Auschwitz death camp tattoo on their own body.
Auschwitz, in Nazi-occupied Poland, was the only camp where numbers were
tattooed on those inmates not selected for immediate death. In replacing the
person’s name, this number has become the visual symbol of the crimes of the
Nazis.
Cohen draws meaning from her tattoo in that it signifies her grandmother’s
history and her own identity as a descendant of Holocaust survivors. To her
mind, replicating this number was a means of taking her grandmother, as a
person, and her legacy forward. As a gesture and an indelible mark she carries
with her, she says:
The number is my grandma. It’s my past, my roots, my story. It’s who I am."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
