‘I have it in my blood and brain … I still haven’t been able to shake this nightmare off.’ How voices from a forgotten archive of Nazi horrors are reshaping perceptions of the Holocaust

“The witness – a tall, 16-year-old boy with a child-like face – recounts his sad story as if he were an old man”, she noted in her papers. “He speaks without becoming upset, only breaking down slightly when I ask about the fate of his parents and sister”.

They were sitting in an old school building in Sweden, serving as a makeshift refugee camp. Taking her time to interview the Polish boy, the woman occasionally asked him to clarify or elaborate, gently urging him on while carefully taking notes.

His name was Genek…

© La Conversation - mercredi 22 octobre 2025