For decades, a Holocaust survivor searched for a photograph taken on the day he was liberated. This year, Jewish Federation of Edmonton researcher and curator Zion Barany helped reconnect his family with a piece of its history. The discovery is just one example of the work Zion has undertaken during his first year helping build the foundation for Edmonton's future Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Centre, which will one day be housed within the new Oshry | Kipnes Jewish Community Centre.
When Zion joined the Federation a year ago, he knew he was taking on a significant challenge.
"We're building something from the ground up," he says. “Every step needs to be calculated. Every step needs to be thought of completely before we take it on."
Long before a physical museum opens its doors, however, the work of preserving history is already underway. Through research, education, artifact collection and relationship building, Zion is helping create the stories, collections and experiences that will one day form the heart of the centre.
For Zion, some of the most meaningful discoveries happen when historical research reconnects families with their own past.
One such story began with Holocaust survivor George Kraus. During liberation, a U.S. soldier photographed him and handed him his address. George always hoped to reconnect with the soldier and obtain the photograph but was never able to locate him. Years later, through archival research and detective work that crossed generations and continents, Zion began searching for answers.
"It took us a while, but we were able to locate that soldier that took a picture," Zion says. “Unfortunately, he passed away when he was 36, but that led us to his children, trying to find them, and more of the family’s history."
The family confirmed they knew of the photograph and so they started looking for it themselves.
“To be able to bring closure to a family story so many years later, I think that is something.”
Stories like these rarely begin or end with a single document. Zion's research often takes him deep into archives across Europe, through historical records, family collections and unexpected sources.
"Once I go through the files that we have on certain families, I also start to do research on them to see if files exist in the German archives," he explains. “One thing may lead to another, and you discover artifacts at places where you haven't thought of."
That work is continually expanding the collection that will one day become part of the future centre.
Over the past year, community members have donated artifacts, family records and historical materials that help tell the stories of Holocaust survivors and Jewish life. Among them is a piece of barbed wire believed to have come from Auschwitz, preserved by a woman who brought it home from Poland decades ago and kept it for more than 40 years before deciding it belonged in the community's collection. Other materials include wartime correspondence, family documents and artifacts connected to Holocaust survivors and their experiences.
For Zion, these donations represent far more than historical objects.
"People need to trust us," he says. “Everything we do is built on trust."
He understands the significance of what families are placing in the Federation's care.
"For those donating these materials, this is not just world history. It is their family's story: the story of their mom, their dad, their uncle, their brother, sister, grandmother, or grandfather."
Preserving those stories also means recording voices while there is still time.
Last year, Jewish Federation of Edmonton welcomed Holocaust educator and advocate Jonny Daniels to Edmonton as part of a community event and the Survivor Torah Project, which gave Holocaust survivors and their families an opportunity to participate in the restoration of a historic Torah scroll. During those conversations, an important gap became apparent. Several Russian-speaking Holocaust survivors in the Edmonton community had never had their testimonies formally recorded.
Recognizing the urgency of preserving those stories, Zion worked with partners including Jewish Family Services and the USC Shoah Foundation to help facilitate interviews with Russian-speaking Holocaust survivors in Edmonton.
"We realized that there are many Russian-speaking survivors whose testimonies have not been recorded," Zion says. “We were able to facilitate these interviews and be able to record their stories because it would be a shame if we lost the stories of local Edmonton Holocaust survivors."
To date, (not sure of the exact number, but close) 10 survivor interviews have been completed, preserving first-hand accounts that will help educate and inspire future generations.
While much of Zion's work takes place behind the scenes, its impact is already reaching the broader community. This year, approximately 500 students participated in the annual Dianne z”l and Irving Kipnes Holocaust Education Symposium, creating opportunities for young people to engage with history in meaningful and lasting ways. The Federation has also continued to engage educators through professional development opportunities and Holocaust education programming.
Zion has also been helping shape the vision for the future centre itself.
Earlier this year, Zion and Jenn Magalnick visited Holocaust museums in Vancouver, Hamilton and Toronto to learn from established institutions across Canada. The visits explored concepts from exhibit design and collections management to visitor experience and educational programming. The lessons learned are helping inform plans for Edmonton's future centre.
While plans for the centre continue to evolve, Zion believes the work happening today is essential to its long-term success.
"I think that by the time we have the Holocaust Centre, it will be too late to start this work. " he says. “You need time to do research. You need time also to review your research. All this work that we're doing, this takes time. Having that time will allow us to create something of quality."
At the same time, Zion has begun expanding research into the broader story of Jewish life in Alberta.
"It does not make sense to tell Jewish history exclusively through the Holocaust," he says. “The Holocaust is part of Jewish history but telling it exclusively through the Holocaust distorts the image of Jewish history."
That vision reflects the future role of the Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Centre: not only preserving the stories of the Holocaust, but sharing the broader story of Jewish life, resilience, culture, and community.
Looking back on his first year, Zion is reluctant to focus on any single accomplishment.
"I think naming one would be difficult," he says. “It’s not one thing. It's the accumulation of everything. It's the whole process of it."
The future Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Centre may not yet have walls, exhibits or galleries. But its foundation is already taking shape through the artifacts being entrusted to the community, the survivor stories being preserved and the family histories being rediscovered. One story at a time, Zion is helping carry those histories forward for generations to come.