Archival Research is underway for the future Edmonton Holocaust Education Centre

by Tammy Vineberg

(Edmonton) – Zion Barany spends his days poring over historical documents and items, trying to link the stories of Edmonton Holocaust survivors in preparation for a permanent exhibit at the future Holocaust Education Centre which will be housed at the new Edmonton Jewish Community Centre, expected to open later next year.

Zion started his role as curator in June, thanks to a grant from the Edmonton Community Foundation. He’s been diving into files, videos, and photos held by the Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton and Northern Alberta (JAHSENA) with fresh eyes, as he has never lived in Canada and is not Jewish.

He grew up in Iran, where he attended an Armenian school and mainly socialized with the country’s minority populations—Jewish, Kurds, and others. Zion says that’s where his passion for history and philosophy stems from.

“Growing up as a minority in a majority country, you kind of wonder why we are here. You begin thinking about why certain groups are in countries where they are not the majority,” he says.

When his family fled Iran, they settled in Germany, where Zion had to learn a new language before studying history and philosophy at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He decided to focus on modern history, including Jewish history and the Middle East, for his master’s degree. Following graduation, he worked as an intern at museums and developed an exhibit for the Westfalen Jewish Museum in Dorsten, Germany. He also worked at the Holocaust Museum LA in California, where he analyzed handwritten German documents from 1933 to 1945. His role was to research their origins and translate and transcribe the materials.

After returning from Germany following his stay in Los Angeles, he contemplated where he wanted to live and work. He discovered Edmonton after coming across a position as an archivist for JAHSENA. The timing for that role didn’t work out, but his résumé was forwarded to the Jewish Federation of Edmonton as work needed to be completed for the future Holocaust Education Centre.

“I guess it was meant to be. Everything fell into place at the right time. I’m happy about it,” says Zion.

As he had never been to Edmonton before, he had to get his bearings while learning an overall understanding of how the Edmonton Jewish community is related to the Holocaust. For example, how many survivors immigrated to the city and Alberta. He has been pulling files on each survivor one by one. As a Jewish Federation of Edmonton employee, he is collaborating with JAHSENA to access these files.

“There are a lot of documents in one file. You don’t know what you will find. You are looking at interviews, trying to find the whole story because you only get bits and pieces in archival material. You must cross-reference the material with the overall history of Canada and how it is related to the Holocaust. It’s like a puzzle,” explains Zion.

His role is different from archivists because archivists are responsible for handling and preserving historical materials. What Zion does is examine the archives and trace the history of each paper, one by one. “I try to understand where that piece of paper came from, who wrote the letter, to whom it was written, and why. I ask questions about why this piece of paper existed and how it relates to overall history. You try to contextualize archival material in the broad history.”

His gloved hands have touched many interesting pieces that are stored, including barbed wire from Auschwitz. The next step is to interview the family who donated this piece of history.

With so many Holocaust museums around the world, Zion still believes it’s important that Edmonton has its own centre. “It’s even more important because we have so many survivors here, and I think it’s doing a disservice to them if we don’t highlight their stories. These people came and found a home here. It’s part of this country’s history. Holocaust education is not only about the past. It’s not only about what happened and how these people survived. It’s a way of dealing with the future. It’s equipping citizens and visitors who come to the centre to make them able to see growing hate and to see what threats in a democracy can lead to,” he says.

If you or a family member has items from the Holocaust and would like to donate them to this Edmonton-based project, please contact Zion at zbarany@edjfed.org.

Tammy Vineberg is Director, Marketing and Communications at Jewish Federation of Edmonton.