The destruction of European Jewry during the Holocaust saw not only the murder of six million Jews, but also the loss of the history and records of the rich Jewish landscape that existed across the European continent.

Through a deep and personal commitment to her subject matter, Genevieve Cumming-Jaffé has brought to life the story of her great grandparents in Germany before the Nazi era, and their survival of the Shoah. In so doing, she has provided a rich tapestry — through narrative, visual images and sound — of Jewish life in that period. She has been able to utilise primary source materials and has researched her subject matter thoroughly.

Thus, this CD Rom helps to fill the gap in the pages of history by providing another important case study from German Jewry. As such, it will be an important tool for high school students undertaking a study of Germany between the wars, as well as for any scholar or interested reader of this period. Each rediscovered family story of this nature adds to our understanding of this tragic period of history and helps to bring to life the German Jewish heritage.

— Suzanne Rutland, Chair, Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies, University of Sydney

After visiting Germany recently Genevieve Cumming-Jaffé became intrigued. Why was the Museum/ Synagogue in Celle so starkly devoid of the presence and personality of its former resident and community leader, Abraham Jaffé, her great-grandfather? How was it that he and his family of nine escaped Nazi Germany while her grandmother’s parents and brother all perished in the Holocaust?

Genevieve, who was in high school at the time, undertook exhaustive research that resulted in this multimedia CD. It will fascinate anyone interested in the impact of the Holocaust on ordinary people of the time, especially the range of feelings of those who survived its horrors.

The work also serves as a model of what is possible in bringing history alive through video and sound, as well as text.

Genevieve Cumming-Jaffé returned to Im Kreise 24 in 2003 to rekindle the memory of a once forgotten resident.

This multimedia biography of her great-grandfather, Abraham Jaffé, Jewish and community leader, is now installed in the Celle Museum/Synagogue as a testament to his memory and that of countless people who suffered during the years of the Nazi rule.

This is Genevieve’s first published work, and it will be launched by well-known author and Jewish scholar, Suzanne Rutland at the Sydney Jewish Museum in May, 2005.

 

If These Walls Could Talk Launch

 

CELLE_FCov
‘