When students learn about the Holocaust, it can typically be through grisly images captured on grainy black and white film, Hollywood adaptations such as “Schindler’s List” or through textbooks chronicling the larger events of World War II.

Holocaust survivor Miriam Katin has decided to document her experiences with a different approach – a graphic novel memoir. “We Are On Our Own” depicts the struggle of a mother and daughter (based on Miriam and her own mother) fleeing the Nazi invasion in Budapest and their plight to stay free from the advancing German army. Through her pencil sketches, splashes of color and unique dialogue, Katin details a unique experience recalled from stories shared by her mother, of both escaping the clutches of invasion and recovery after.

Katin will share that story – and her creative process – at a public lecture Wednesday, March 11. “Childhood in Black and White: A talk by Miriam Katin” is free and open to the public in G21 Ming Hsieh Hall on the campus of West Virginia University at 7:30 p.m.

Lisa DiBartolomeo, teaching assistant professor in the Department of World Languages at West Virginia University, uses Katin’s work in her class, “The Holocaust in East European Literature and Film” (FCLT 380). Katin’s method of storytelling can provoke a deeper understanding of the human experience during the Holocaust, DiBartolomeo said.

While DiBartolomeo was originally hesitant about introducing such a unique way of representing history, the response has been largely positive.

“Many students haven’t seen up close the personal costs of the Holocaust, its effects. It makes a difference. A lot of students respond to it, especially how visually oriented we are today,” she said. The graphic novel nature of the memoir, she said, “finds people who might not otherwise spend very much time thinking about, or reading about, the Holocaust.”

As time marches on, and the memory of World War II seems further away, it has never been more important to pay witness to and share the experiences of those who lived through it, DiBartolomeo said.

“Survivors are becoming more and more frail, largely from their experiences and their age. They will not be a resource for very much longer,” DiBartolomeo said. “I think everybody needs to take care to take advantage of that. The best medicine for someone trying to deny or question what happened during the Holocaust is saying ‘No, I know someone,’ or ‘I heard firsthand.’”

“We Are On Our Own” was the first full graphic novel by Katin, published when she was 63 years old. Her follow up, “Letting It Go,” documents her son’s move to Berlin despite her protests, and coming to terms with her past.

-WVU-

dr/03/02/2015

CONTACT: Devon Copeland, Director of Marketing and Communication, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; 304-293-6867, Devon.Copeland@mail.wvu.edu

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