HolocaustMovieOregonPortlandShoahSurvivorTBWMto bear witness

To Bear Witness: Closure

On a journey to come to terms with their losses, a group of Holocaust survivors from Portland, OR, travel together to six of the locations where concentration campswere built in Europe during World War II. Standing in a circle at each site, they recite Jewish prayers for the dead and fill a small cloth bag with soil to be brought back to Portland and buried in a traditional manner. “In this way,” the survivors explain, “though we will never forget, we will learn to live with the scars of what happened.”

Closure was produced by The Immigrant Story in collaboration with NW Documentary. This short docuseries is a part of “To Bear Witness: Extraordinary Lives,” a multimedia collection of stories. This short film was directed and edited by Mike Turner.

The Immigrant Story (https://theimmigrantstory.org/) is a volunteer-run non-profit with a mission of  fostering empathy and building a more inclusive community by sharing stories of immigrants and refugees who often overcame tremendous odds to reach the United States.

NW Documentary is a community of filmmakers and storytellers dedicated to the craft of nonfiction and proud to host a welcoming and inclusive space for independent work, teaching, learning, experimentation, collaboration, and sharing.

This video is made possible by a generous contribution by Renee Holzman.