Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA

The translation of Memoirs of Holocaust survivors into French is accomplished

Article, 27.11.2017

On the occasion of the second plenary meeting under Swiss chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) on 27th November 2017, the translation of all the 15 memoirs of Holocaust survivors into French has been completed.

Photo of the words 'Swiss’ and ‘Jews’ in the commemorative plaque for International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2016 taken at the Ecole des Cropettes in Geneva.
Photo of the commemorative plaque for International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2016 taken at the Ecole des Cropettes in Geneva, honouring the role played by the school building during the Second World War. © Keystone

On the occasion of the first IHRA plenary meeting under Swiss chairmanship in Geneva, 5 volumes – translated by students from two gymnasiums in Geneva and Bienne – were presented. They worked for many months to translate the Memoirs of the Holocaust survivors who live in Switzerland – originally published in German by the “Kontaktstelle für Holocaust Überlebende in der Schweiz”. These translations also created an opportunity for dialogue between survivors and students.

The translation of the remaining 10 volumes was accomplished by committed translators. Thus, the translation of the series is accomplished. The publication of a special edition “Passeurs de mémoires” collecting the different impressions of this translation work completes this project.

All fifteen volumes of these Memoirs were published in German between 2010 and 2014 with the support of the FDFA. On 27th January 2015, the memoirs were presented to the President of the Swiss Confederation for 2015, Simonetta Sommaruga. Within the context of the Swiss chairmanship of the IHRA, the FDFA took the initiative to translate them into another national language.

All translated volumes, including the five volumes presented in Geneva, have now been published and are available here (in French):

Auschwitz, Matricule 71978


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Souvenirs de la plus longue année de ma vie

© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

En chemin


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Et alors, j'ai commencé à raconter


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

De Békescaba é Auschwitz et retour


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Le fardeau des souvenirs


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Bergen-Belsen, achevé - inachevé


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Une jeunesse privée deliberté


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Témoinages de deux respcapés prapois de l'Holocauste

© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Mémoires de survivants de l’Holocauste Jake Fersztand


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Mémoires de survivants de l’Holocauste Sigmund Baumöhl


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Mémoires de survivants de l’Holocauste Klaus Appel


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Mémoires de survivants de l’Holocauste Fabian Gerson


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Mémoires de survivants de l’Holocauste, Christa Markovits et Eva Alpar

© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Mémoires de survivant de l'Holocauste Ernst Brenner


© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Passeurs de mémoires

© Ivan Lefkovits & Schule für Gestaltung, Basel

Last update 17.04.2025

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