Memory and History

Sometimes memories can be tricky, and we forget things or remember things a little bit differently--especially when we remember traumatic experiences. We sometimes protect ourselves by not remembering everything in detail. When conducting research, we look for information from many different sources to get a wider picture of an experience. When creating the graphic novel, Barbara used history books, historical pictures from archives, and the testimony of other survivors to understand better what happened to Emmie.

To create the panel in the graphic novel on Emmie's memories of her life in the three concentration camps she had to stay in, Barbara looked at historical photography. Below you see historical pictures from Ravensbrück. These pictures helped Barbara understand Emmie's descriptions better and to draw Emmie's experience more accurately. At the same time, we have to be critical when looking at historical pictures from concentration camps: most of them where taken by the perpetrators themselves.