Erika Jacoby

For six female Holocaust survivors, liberation from the camps marked the beginning of a lifelong struggle.

Hand-drawn animation illustrates Holocaust Survivor Erika Jacoby’s memories of surviving Auschwitz. Produced by students aged 12-17 in a Righteous Conversations Project summer workshop at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles.

Six Jewish women, from different countries and different backgrounds, found themselves deported to the notorious concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, during the Holocaust. This film attempts to chronicle that experience through those same female eyes. While subject to the same physical hardships as men, these women do not dwell on that. Instead, they speak of camp families and faith, uplifting one another while trying to remain human. It was this path of spiritual resistance that, while not responsible for their direct survival, led to their ability to survive with healthy minds and spirits despite the constant barrage of their surroundings. Swimming in Auschwitz gives us a perspective of the camp, its surroundings and the Holocaust that we need to understand and remember, so that we never forget.