The moving history of the Emmie Arbel: survival in the shadow of the Shoah

The moving history of the Emmie Arbel: survival in the shadow of the Shoah

A special event recently took place in the Dachau city library, where everything revolved around the moving life story of the surviving Emmie Arbel. The Munich artist Barbara Yelin, who is internationally recognized for her artistic achievements, has captured Arbel's story in the form of a graphic novel. Your work received the Max and Moritz Prize for the artistic examination of the topics of persecution and flight in the coming year.

At the event, impressive excerpts from Yelin's book were presented, which document with living pictures of Arbel's experiences from the Thoroughfare from the Westerbork passages as well as the concentration camps Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen. The story jumps between different periods and thus offers a deep insight into the complex reality of life of the protagonist.

a life in records

Emmie Arbel, born in the Hague in 1937, experienced the horrors of the Second World War up close. Her family was deported by the Nazis in 1942, and the cruel circumstances led to her mother died in the concentration camp in 1945. Her father was murdered in Buchenwald. Despite these traumatic experiences, she took the step to Israel, where she met Barbara Yelin to work on the international project "Survival-Centered Visual Narrative". This is about capturing the stories of survivors by art.

originally designed as a 40-page commissioned work with the title "But I live", it quickly became clear that it was not possible to put a whole life in so little space. So the idea came up for the more comprehensive graphic novel "Emmie Arbel. The color of the memory", which was published last year.

The creative process

Yelin initially wanted to keep a professional distance from her protagonist, but increasingly allowed herself to gain personal insights into Arbel's life. The two women spent a lot of time together, and during this time Arbel researched, which of their memories were to be told and which should remain hidden forever. Yelin noticed how important these everyday moments were to get an authentic impression of Arbel's life.

dealing with your own past is not easy for Arbel. She had to recall traumatic experiences that were hidden for a long time. In particular, the memories of the abuse by her father after the liberation from the concentration camp remained a challenge for her. Arbel's review of this time is characterized by a remarkable honesty when she talks about how she felt: "I remember, I don't remember." This torn memory is central in the graphic novel and reflects Arbel's fights.

Yelin represented Arbel's memories in pictures that acted as "walking sticks" for exploring her past. In moments when uncertainties occurred, Yelin asked questions like "was it like that, Emmie?" And helped to activate and reorganize Arbel's memories. The narrative itself is not linear, which underlines the chaotic character of memories.

The decision of the survivors to share their life story also pursues a bigger goal: it hopes that the memory of the Shoah will remain unique in history. The choice of the place, Dachau, is of particular importance, since it also carries the historical burden of National Socialism. The graphic novel is therefore not only a work of art, but also to an important document that preserves and passes on the story of Emmie Arbel.

For more information about the event and the graphic novel by Barbara Yelin, there are detailed reports here .