DrawnTogether: A Picture Book Exhibit at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial

Abstract

In December 2024, Dr. Tatia Gruenbaum, a visiting researcher in applied linguistics at Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany, received a grant from the Hertie Foundation to develop a small picture book exhibit suitable for children aged eight to fourteen. The purpose of the exhibit was, in Gruenbaum’s words, to offer a nontraumatic introduction to the Holocaust beyond the school curriculum, allowing children to view lives that might be different from their own and to empathize with the characters. Her collection focused on picture books sharing Jewish lived experiences during the Holocaust