Visualising Holocaust Child-survivors in Canada: From Post-war Humanitarian Campaigns to National Memory

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1947, the Canadian Jewish Congress was authorized to bring 1000 young Holocaust survivors to Canada. The government required all newcomers to be placed in foster families. This led the CJC to set up a campaign to find potential foster parents. Bringing together scholarship on humanitarian photography and on post-World War 2 childhood, this article examines the imagery and accompanying narratives of the campaign and explores how notions of victimhood, resilience, and rehabilitation were represented. It aims to assess how these representations and misrepresentations influenced the survivors’ resettlement but also the long-term memorialization of their arrival in Canada.