Amanda Friedeman
Amanda Friedeman and Kelley Szany are the editors of Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, a new book for older kids. Friedeman is associate director of education and Szany is vice president of education and exhibitions at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
Q: What inspired you to edit Interrupted Lives?
A: We began this project several years ago as we were witnessing a rise in antisemitism, hate-fueled violence, and division. We recognized the history and lessons of the Holocaust that our survivors shared might serve as sparks of inspiration and guidance for many, especially during darker times.
Q: How did you decide on the nine profiles to include in the book?
A: We sought to represent a diversity of Survivor experiences across geography. From escapees to hidden children, to ghetto and camp survivors not only in Eastern Europe, but Western Europe as well, which is a less well-known aspect of the history.
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| Kelley Szany |
Q: How did you choose the book’s title, and what does it signify for you?
A: We chose to call the book “Interrupted Lives” because it captures the essence of the Survivors’ experiences—their experiences during the Holocaust deviated significantly from their lives before the war began, but their stories don’t begin or end there.
Although their postwar experiences and the lives they built after the war are dramatically different from what came before, their lives did continue, and they were able to rebuild.
Their resilience and perseverance in making new lives in a new country is inspiring, but it also reflects the experiences of many young people in our communities. We hope these stories will inspire them.
Q: Especially at a time when antisemitism is increasing in this country, what do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: We hope that readers take away the lessons that each of the Survivors shares—the importance of resilience, perseverance, and learning from the past; of standing up for ourselves and for the rights of others; of helping those in need and working to end hatred.
Beyond those lessons, we hope that readers are encouraged to embrace our shared humanity and to recognize that our commonalities are far greater than our differences, and to see the harm that can come when individuals and groups are singled out and othered for their differences.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: In 2025, the Museum will be embarking on new infrastructure projects, establishing a satellite Museum in downtown Chicago, and increasing our global outreach through the dissemination of our holographic and virtual reality technologies.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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