HOW GENEALOGICAL DETECTIVE WORK MENDS A SHATTERED FAMILY
ONE OF THE WORST PARTS OF THE HORROR THAT WAS THE HOLOCAUST IS THAT ITS ECHOES NEVER CEASE TO REVERBERATE. YOU CAN BLOW UP THE GAS CHAMBERS, YOU CAN BURN DOWN THE CAMPS, BUT THAT’S ALL—AND THAT’S NOT ENOUGH. YOU CAN’T EVER RESTORE THE 11 MILLION LIVES THAT WERE LOST. JUST AS PAINFUL FOR MANY SURVIVORS IS THE LOSS OF THE FAMILIAL HISTORY THAT WAS ANNIHILATED ALONG WITH THE VICTIMS.
The great scattering of displaced people that followed the war years meant that parents lost track of children; wives lost track of husbands; siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents not only didn’t know which of their family members had died, but also which later ones had even been born. Survivors became free electrons, too often bonded to nothing, related to no one.

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