Raw and real: Holocaust story gets new lens

I’ve always been a storyteller: someone who picks up a camera to capture what I see to bring experiences to life. Growing up, it was never about words on a page for me or my generation, it was about being there, feeling it, and seeing it.

My job is to record those moments so you can step into them too. I was raised in the Jewish community, steeped in Jewish education, and the Holocaust was always there – a heavy, unshakeable presence in everything we learned. Now, I watch as the survivors fade and it is sinking in: we’re losing that direct line to their stories. That chance to connect, to truly understand, is slipping away.

I’ve stood in Auschwitz four times in my life, and every time has been a unique experience in which I’ve learned something new. It’s never the same, and it’s always so hard to go back to Auschwitz. Seeing what our people had to go through is taxing on the soul. The scale of Auschwitz, the silence, the overwhelming evil, it changes you.

I know how rare it is to have visited this place. Most people will never walk that ground, never feel the weight of history’s darkest chapter firsthand. I’m also aware that though I was given access to survivors and resources at school, most in South Africa have never had this opportunity.

That’s what drove me to this. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies sent me, alongside Professor Karen Milner and Mary Kluk, to Auschwitz for the 80th anniversary of its liberation. Leaders from across the world – King Charles III, the heads of Germany, Ukraine, Poland, and France – gathered to honour the survivors and the millions who were taken.

My role was to document it, to turn it into something real and raw for my generation, something that lets you feel like you’re there, hearing the testimony, meeting people, standing where it happened.

I had never had the chance to sit one-on-one with a survivor before and talk to them. It was so unexpected meeting Ruth Cohen, a survivor of Auschwitz. I saw her staring up at the gates of Auschwitz with her daughter, Barbara. When she turned around, I said, “Hello.” She smiled at me and I introduced myself. I asked her, “How does it make you feel being back here?”  She said it was her first time back in 80 years. It was a case of instant goosebumps.

I couldn’t even imagine how she was feeling being in this evil place. I wanted to find out more of her story, so I asked Barbara for her number and if we could interview Ruth.

I was happy when I got a message from them on our last day. They made the time for us to hear Ruth’s story. A story that hasn’t been heard by many. I felt fortunate to hear her experience of how she survived this terrible place. Afterwards, we chatted about life and other things, and it felt like the times I use to catch up with my bobba.

Just before this, I’d run an ultramarathon in the Saudi desert. My body was still aching when I arrived, but that contrast only sharpened the weight of Auschwitz. I’ve never hidden my Jewishness, even when it cost me, and I couldn’t turn away from this.

The videos we made will come out during the week of Yom Hashoah, with the main one shown at the West Park commemoration on 24 April. We’re at a tipping point.

Misinformation spreads too easily now, and that includes voices denying the Holocaust, shrinking it down as if it is nothing. As the years stretch on, that noise could grow. Like we say at the Pesach seder, it is our duty to tell the story of Egypt. Here, it’s the same. We have to carry the Shoah forward, every one of us, in every way we can.

I’m asking you, please come to a Yom Hashoah event on 24 April, wherever you are. Watch my videos from Auschwitz. Share them. We can’t let this fade. It’s now up to us to hold this history, to reach the youth, to touch those who’ve never felt its truth. This is our responsibility, and it starts here.

• Chad Nathan is a videographer and social media personality.