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I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors

This short animation is director Ann Marie Fleming’s animated adaptation of Bernice Eisenstein’s acclaimed illustrated memoir. Using the healing power of humour, the film probes the taboos around a very particular second-hand trauma, leading us to a more universal understanding of human experience. The film sensitively explores identity and loss through the audacious proposition that the Holocaust is addictive and defining.
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This short animation is director Ann Marie Fleming’s animated adaptation of Bernice Eisenstein’s acclaimed illustrated memoir. Using the healing power of humour, the film probes the taboos around a very particular second-hand trauma, leading us to a more universal understanding of human experience. The film sensitively explores identity and loss through the audacious proposition that the Holocaust is addictive and defining.

Literature and Language Literature and Language - Canada Families War, Conflict and Peace Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism All subjects
  • writer
    Ann Marie Fleming
  • director
    Ann Marie Fleming
  • based on the book
    Bernice Eisenstein
  • narrator
    Bernice Eisenstein
  • animation
    Lillian Chan
    Kevin Langdale
    Howie Shia
  • editing
    Ann Marie Fleming
    Ileana Pietrobruno
  • original music
    Normand Roger
    Pierre Yves Drapeau
    Denis Chartrand
  • sound design
    Normand Roger
    Pierre Yves Drapeau
    Denis Chartrand
  • musician
    Denis Chartrand
    Bernard Cormier
    Guy Donis
    Pierre Yves Drapeau
    Éric Lagacé
    Nicolas Letarte
    Patrick Vetter
  • technical co-ordination
    Julie Laperrière
  • digital imaging specialist
    Susan Gourley
  • re-recording
    Jean Paul Vialard
  • on-line
    Denis Gathelier
  • titles
    Gaspard Gaudreau
  • marketing manager
    Julie Armstrong-Boileau
  • administration
    Gisèle Guilbault
    Rosalina Di Sario
    Rachel Punwassie
  • executive producer
    David Verrall
    Silva Basmajian
  • producer
    Michael Fukushima
    Gerry Flahive

Education

Ages 14 to 17

Study Guide

Guide 1

Notes

Pre-teach: The Holocaust, its inception, and long-term effects on the Jewish people. Post-viewing: Suggest reasons why the narrator compares her search for understanding to an addiction and her parents to drug dealers. In what ways is this an accurate description of her search? By the end of the film, what revelations about her ancestry does she come to understand? Are these helpful to her as a Jewish woman? If so, how?

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I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors
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