The responsibility of bearing witness
Telling a survivor's story is a privilege, but perhaps more importantly it is also a responsibility.
Listening to Omer Shemtov tell me his story of survival in the terror tunnels of Gaza it suddenly dawned on me: I am bearing witness in a way I could never have anticipated.
One of the major reasons I was drawn to The AJN was the opportunity to meet Holocaust survivors and tell their stories. My grandfather escaped Nazi Germany in 1939, but he lost family members in Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. He kept his grade 1 textbook full of Nazi propaganda in impeccable condition until the day he died in Israel, in December last year.
For as long as I can remember, probably because of my own family’s connection, I have been reading Holocaust books and have been overwhelmingly affected and utterly inspired by the survivors who endured the worst suffering, yet went on to lead such extraordinary, productive lives. Primo Levi. Elie Wiesel. Viktor Frankl. Eddie Jaku. To name just a few.
I felt – and still feel – it is my duty to know their stories, to be moved by them, and to share them.
For many years I worked as a soccer journalist for The Daily Telegraph and Fox Sports. I was at the 2015 A-League Grand Final in Melbourne, working in the press box, when then Football Federation Australia chairman Sir Frank Lowy fell off the stage. It was a sickening moment.
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